Hungary Becomes First 'Partly Free' EU Nation in Democracy Gauge

Hungary has become the first European Union country to be designated as “partly free” in an annual gauge of democratic freedoms.

The erosion of democracy under Prime Minister Viktor Orban constitutes “the most dramatic decline ever charted” in the EU, Freedom House, a Washington-based think-tank, said in its annual Freedom in the World report. All other 27 EU members retained a “free” label.

Orban, who returned to power in 2010, has overseen the most extensive centralization of power since the end of communism. He’s appointed allies to head formerly independent institutions, extended his influence over parts of the court system and curbed dissent by tightening regulations over universities and civil society. The EU is currently probing whether to sanction the perceived rule-of-law violations here and in Poland.

“Hungary has become a trailblazer when it comes to dismantling democracy,” said Zselyke Csaky, Freedom House’s head of research for Europe and Eurasia. “It’s spawned copy-cats inside the EU as well as across the Atlantic.”

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-05/hungary-becomes-first-partly-free-eu-nation-in-democracy-gauge?srnd=politics-vp