People & Power: Hungary: Towards the Abyss

Investigating why critics of Hungary's authoritarian government believe it is leading the country towards fascism.

Hungary’s Constitutional Changes Fuel New Tensions
EUR ACTIV: Thousands of Hungarians protested in central Budapest on Saturday (9 March) against imminent changes to the country's constitution which they fear would curb democratic rights, echoing worries this week from the European Union and the United States.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s ruling center-right Fidesz party has used its unprecedented two-thirds parliamentary majority to make laws that critics say limit citizens' freedoms.

Parliament is scheduled to hold a final vote on the constitutional changes today (11 March).

Decisions of the country's top Constitutional Court made before the new constitution entered into force in 2012 will no longer be valid, discarding an important body of law often used as reference before. Restrictive new regulation may now appear in higher education, homelessness, electoral law and family law.

"We really have had enough of this," said 17-year-old student Luca Cseh, adding the changes limited her prospects of going to university as state subsidies would only be available to students who pledge to work in Hungary after graduation.

"They oppress students, but also the homeless or homosexuals," she said. » | EurActiv.com with Reuters | Monday, March 11, 2013