Thread by @ProfPech

To fully appreciate dangers of Orban’s #DictatorshipBill (soon to be Act) and misleading nature of this op-ed, one must analyse law in light of Orban’s record when it comes to (annihilating) #democracy #ruleoflaw #humanrights which of course @JuditVarga_EU fails to do
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https://twitter.com/JuditVarga_EU/status/1243608745793531904

1/ Preliminary point: @JuditVarga_EU’s latest op-ed is not of course 1st time Hungarian Minister of Justice deliberately aims to mislead about her government’s record. See e.g. this analysis co-authored with @alemannoEU
& @rdanielkelemen

euronews.com/2019/11/25/res…

@JuditVarga_EU @alemannoEU @rdanielkelemen 2/ So let’s examine record of Orban’s regime, shall we?

Only EU member state mentioned in list of countries having experienced most democratic declines in freedom *in the world* in *past 10 years*: you guess it Hungary

freedomhouse.org/report/freedom…

@JuditVarga_EU @alemannoEU @rdanielkelemen 3/ Only EU country mentioned in @Int_IDEA list of countries having experienced largest number of democratic backsliding years: Hungary alongside Nicaragua & Venezuela (for some reasons only this last country was worthy of an @EPP resolution)

@JuditVarga_EU @alemannoEU @rdanielkelemen @Int_IDEA @EPP 4/ Only EU country mentioned by @TheWJP in its list of countries having experienced *largest average annual percentage drop* in #ruleoflaw over last five years: Hungary alongside Egypt, Venezuela, Cambodia, Philippines, Cameroon & Bosnia and Herzegovina worldjusticeproject.org/our-work/resea…

@JuditVarga_EU @alemannoEU @rdanielkelemen @Int_IDEA @EPP @TheWJP 5/ EU country having seen the “biggest decline in freedom of expression *in the word* over the last decade: Hungary

article19.org/reader/global-…

@JuditVarga_EU @alemannoEU @rdanielkelemen @Int_IDEA @EPP @TheWJP 6/ EU country having seen its score in The Word Press Freedom Index constantly declined over past few years and now EU country with second worst ranking (87 out of 180) just ahead of Bulgaria (no 111 & another EU country ruled by @EPP party): Hungary rsf.org/en/ranking_tab…

@JuditVarga_EU @alemannoEU @rdanielkelemen @Int_IDEA @EPP @TheWJP 7/ Most severe cases of widespread democratic backsliding in past 5 years acc to 2019 Global State of Democracy report: Hungary alongside Poland (also subject to Art 7 procedure) Romania (subject to EU special monitoring mechanism) + Serbia & Turkey

idea.int/publications/c…

@JuditVarga_EU @alemannoEU @rdanielkelemen @Int_IDEA @EPP @TheWJP 8/ *Worst* EU member state when it comes to civil rights and political liberties acc to Bertelsmann Stiftung SGI ranking: Hungary sgi-network.org/2019/Democracy…

@JuditVarga_EU @alemannoEU @rdanielkelemen @Int_IDEA @EPP @TheWJP 9/ *Worst* EU member state when it comes to electoral processes (so much for Orban's self-professed respect for “the will of the people”) acc to same SGI ranking: Hungary

sgi-network.org/2019/Democracy…

@JuditVarga_EU @alemannoEU @rdanielkelemen @Int_IDEA @EPP @TheWJP 10/ *Worst* EU member state when it comes to access to information (apparently “will of the people” means preventing the people from being able to scrutinise actions of their gov) acc to same SGI ranking: Hungary

sgi-network.org/2019/Democracy…

@JuditVarga_EU @alemannoEU @rdanielkelemen @Int_IDEA @EPP @TheWJP 11/ *Worst* EU member state when it comes to the #ruleoflaw acc to same SGI rankings: Hungary again… but sure the EU is guilty of "double standards" and poor Orban a victim of witch-hunt...

sgi-network.org/2019/Democracy…

@JuditVarga_EU @alemannoEU @rdanielkelemen @Int_IDEA @EPP @TheWJP 12/ *Worst* EU member state when it comes to the #ruleoflaw acc to @TheWJP Rule of Law Index 2020 (just in case the SGI Index wasn't enough for you): Hungary (24th out of 24 countries within EU, EFTA & North America region)

worldjusticeproject.org/our-work/resea…

@JuditVarga_EU @alemannoEU @rdanielkelemen @Int_IDEA @EPP @TheWJP 13/ *Worst* EU member state when it comes to implementing leading rulings of the European Court of Human Rights from last 10 years (source @EI_Network): Hungary with 74% rate of non-implementation! (no worries ignoring rulings is one of @EPP red lines)

einnetwork.org/hungary-echr

@JuditVarga_EU @alemannoEU @rdanielkelemen @Int_IDEA @EPP @TheWJP @EI_Network 14/ *Worst* EU member state (alongside Romania and just below Bulgaria) when it comes to corruption (source: @anticorruption 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index): Hungary (no wonder Orban against new MFF #ruleoflaw conditionality mechanism)

transparency.org/cpi2019

@JuditVarga_EU @alemannoEU @rdanielkelemen @Int_IDEA @EPP @TheWJP @EI_Network @anticorruption 15/ *Worst* EU member state when it comes to #AcademicFreedom (out of 24 EUMS measured): Hungary

but fear not acc to Orban “academic life” is “flourishing” and @GabrielMariya promised to defend academic freedom... (btw @EPP what about your red line?)

https://twitter.com/ProfPech/status/1243817110092029953

@JuditVarga_EU @alemannoEU @rdanielkelemen @Int_IDEA @EPP @TheWJP @EI_Network @anticorruption @GabrielMariya 16/ End result of 10 years of democratic & rule of law backsliding: Hungary has become first EU MS state no longer recognised as a democracy by @vdeminstitute

EU institutions/actors' reaction: let's continue to pretend this is not happening

v-dem.net/media/filer_pu…

@JuditVarga_EU @alemannoEU @rdanielkelemen @Int_IDEA @EPP @TheWJP @EI_Network @anticorruption @GabrielMariya @vdeminstitute 17/ EU's denial of reality cannot be excused by recent release of @vdeminstitute report as last year Hungary already became first EU MS to lose its “Free” country status (gained in 1990) to become first “Partly Free” EU country
freedomhouse.org/report/freedom…
&
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

@JuditVarga_EU @alemannoEU @rdanielkelemen @Int_IDEA @EPP @TheWJP @EI_Network @anticorruption @GabrielMariya @vdeminstitute 18/ & yet Hungarian authorities continue to participate to EU’s decision-making processes, Orban & cronies are yet to be expelled from @EPP (no matter how openly they violate its red lines) & are yet to be prevented from misappropriating EU funds see eg nytimes.com/2019/11/03/wor…)

@JuditVarga_EU @alemannoEU @rdanielkelemen @Int_IDEA @EPP @TheWJP @EI_Network @anticorruption @GabrielMariya @vdeminstitute 19/ Anyone calling for “more dialogue” at this stage cannot be taken seriously as this is akin to fighting a forest fire with a teaspoon of fire retardant at a time while denying there is a fire in the first place to worry about...

reconnect-europe.eu/blog/blog-vdle…

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@JuditVarga_EU @alemannoEU @rdanielkelemen @Int_IDEA @EPP @TheWJP @EI_Network @anticorruption @GabrielMariya @vdeminstitute P.S. For a legal assessment of Orban's Dictatorship Bill soon to be Act see verfassungsblog.de/orbans-emergen…

"The law hands to Orbán the fully-fledged dictatorial powers he would need in order to cling to office when the full weight of the pandemic hits"