
Hungary's emergency law 'incompatible with being in EU', say MEPs group - finphil
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/31/hungary-emergency-law-incompatible-with-being-in-eu-say-meps-group-viktor-orban
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woodandsteel
To deal with the coronavirus crisis, Orban is being granted vastly greater
powers than any other EU leader. I can think of no reason for this than he
wants to turn Hungary into a full dictatorship. That is certainly the
direction he has been heading, in a step-wise fashion, for many years.

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anoncake
I don't see how Hungary is not a dictatorship yet.

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woodandsteel
Countries rarely move from democracy to dictatorship in one quick step. It is
a generally a process over a number of years, and in recent years Orban has
moved several large steps in that direction, but has not gotten there yet.
With this new action it looks like his feels like he can complete the process.

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anoncake
What I meant is that the new law completes the process. If Orban can rule like
a dictator, that's what he is.

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tester89
This is such a joke. France and Germany’s border closures are also against EU
rules (against freedom of movement) but noöne cares.

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matthewmacleod
No they aren’t. Border closures are absolutely permitted and accepted under
both EU and Schengen rules in emergencies; the current situation qualifies.
It’s also absolutely asinine to compare emergency border closures with a very
obvious and deliberate authoritarian move of this sort.

Please don’t spread misinformation.

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aivisol
Interesting, I did not know that. I thought that it is allowed to implement
border checks within Schengen, but not to close borders completely. Do you
know where is that stated/regulated? Does it say for how long it can last?

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sgift
Article 25: [https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A...](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32016R0399)

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aivisol
Not sure. The article 25 is "General framework for the temporary
reintroduction of border control at internal borders"

I cannot find where it says border can be closed. It says "border control" can
be reintroduced.

There is a reference to 'public health' in Article 8 however:

> However, on a non-systematic basis, when carrying out minimum checks on
> persons enjoying the right of free movement under Union law, border guards
> may consult national and European databases in order to ensure that such
> persons do not represent a genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat
> to the internal security, public policy, international relations of the
> Member States or a threat to the public health.

> The consequences of such consultations shall not jeopardise the right of
> entry of persons enjoying the right of free movement under Union law into
> the territory of the Member State concerned as laid down in Directive
> 2004/38/EC.

But this says to consult "databases" not apply blanket ban. I am sure there is
a law somewhere and our democratically elected EU governments fully follow it
(except, maybe Hungary), but just wanted to double check...

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nkkollaw
Maybe they should just leave. Like Italy should after the EU left us alone
with dealing with the virus.

I live in Poland and I'm waiting for Poland to milk the EU as long as they
can, then leave when the economy is on par with Germany.

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j-pb
Poland has always been one of the least appreciative countries in the EU. They
profit massively yet constantly vote for right wing parties with strong anti-
EU sentiments.

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sattoshi
The Polish population had a very visceral reaction to the EU attempting to
impose anti-Polish measures amid the refugee crisis.

Same goes for Hungary.

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nkkollaw
They saw what happened in other EU countries where guilt-ridden citizens don't
have any respect for their own county anymore, and were not looking to repeat
their mistakes.

The vast majority of immigrants are economic migrants that have no right to
ask for political asylum, and were let in by left-wing government who—contrary
to popular belief—are now hand-in-hand with big companies rather than looking
out for workers, and kept letting them in just to keep salaries low and make
their masters happy.

Back when I was a kid in Italy I used to pick grapes for something like 15/h,
now there are Africans that do it for 4/h and are literally treated like
slaves. Very sad.

