Hungary made front page in the newspapers of the world only a few times during its post-World War II history: in 1956 when its anti-Communist uprising was shattered by Soviet tanks, in 1971 when Cardinal Mindszenty was allowed to leave the country by Communist authorities, and in 1989 when Hungary contributed to the collapse of the Soviet system in Central Europe. Most importantly, without the political steps of the Hungarian government in 1989, East Germany, the most obstinate of the Soviet states in Europe, would have resisted political unification with West-Germany indefinitely. Hungary’s contribution to the elimination of the Soviet system in Europe was generally acclaimed by the U.S. and European governments at the time.
Now Hungary is mentioned again in front page articles, but this time for a very different reason. From the New York Times to Le Monde we read that the country’s government is sliding toward “authoritarianism.” Trotted out as proof are the moves of Prime Minister Viktor Orban to consolidate his party’s hold on power, new rules that supposedly threaten the independence of the judiciary, and most of all the suspiciously Christian, pro-life and pro-family clauses in Hungary’s new Constitution. All these are out of step with the aggressively secular oligarchy that runs the European Union, and Hungary is being threatened (for instance, by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton) that if its government doesn’t back down, the nation will face potentially crippling sanctions.
Read Full Article »