Hungary, a member of the EU since 2004, has been going its own way for some time now, much to the discomfort of their compatriot nations within the EU. It made changes to its constitution restricting freedoms, erected a fence on the border, restricted migrants’ rights, and cracked down on media independence. Charges of corruption and cronyism have been growing.

Finally, the EU decided it could take no more and, last week, the EU parliament under Article 7 voted to admonish Hungary as a threat to the rule of law and democracy. Understandably, Hungary is upset and says it is none of your business, and rightly so!

Clearly, the EU is tone-deaf. When nations collaborate, there is a certain sacrifice of national sovereignty in return for some benefits. Nations agree to cut back on their use of shared waters, or restrict the activities of their fishermen, and so on, all for a greater good that must be clear and agreed to. The difficult part is to convince your own people that it was worth restricting your freedom, and thus collaborations across countries proceed very slowly.

The EU, since 1950 when it first began to collaborate, has been remarkably successful at taking tough decisions that required nations to give up some decision-making ability to a common agreement in furtherance of their ‘four freedoms,’ namely, freedom of movement for goods, services, people and capital. As nations saw their opportunities grow and people prosper, they collaborated more. More countries joined. But growing sections in each country have begun to wonder if what they are giving up is worth it.

The UK took the bit in its teeth and voted to exit the EU, effective 2019. Britons were mostly sick of EU bureaucrats laying down every single rule to be followed and giving little room to manoeuvre. The final straw, so to speak, came when the EU started pressuring countries to take more and more immigrants.

The immigrant pressure in the recent past has upset many communities within the EU. Right-wing parties in many countries, including the Netherlands and Austria, have seen their membership and representation grow by calling for restricting immigration. The Deputy Prime Minister of Italy has enunciated a clear policy to send back 90 per cent of immigrants. Just a week ago, Sweden Democrats, a far-right party that supports restrictions on immigration as well as wanting to exit the EU, saw gains in the elections and is now in the enviable position of being king-maker.

Liberal values

The liberal European values welcoming and trying to find homes for the boat loads of refugees who wash up on their shores from North Africa is truly heart-warming. However, the main problem is in their inability to distinguish between genuine asylum-seekers and economic migrants. While families fleeing the mess in Syria need to be helped, those from across the continent seeking better jobs need to stand in line and apply to enter countries that would take them.

Moreover, the sympathies of many countries of the world seems to be swinging away from minority rights. The majority, as in India, is beginning to think that minority rights are infringing majority rights, and are becoming vocal about it. The rise of Trump-style thinking in the US is part of the same phenomenon. The inability to muster support for the plight of the Rohingyas is also part of the same trend.

The EU needs to undertake some serious introspection about what they stand for. Their strictures against Hungary was because a majority in parliament felt that nation was not living up to European values. But there is increasing disagreement about what are European values.

Or at least, what part of European values can be enforced across the group. Part II of Article 7 would be a vote to suspend the voting rights of Hungary. For the good of the EU, let’s hope they pause. Hungary needs its space to make mistakes.

The writer is a professor at Suffolk University, Boston.

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