Poland and Hungary are frequently described as cases of democratic backsliding. Scoring lower and lower on freedom of media, minority rights protection, independence of judiciary etc. both countries’ politics look similarly alarming. However, do they really have that much in common when it comes to the health of their democracies, as many observers and analysts believe?
Poland has not resolved its dispute with the EU over the rule of law, yet all the criticism has almost died out with the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Nowadays Poland takes Ukrainian refugees and strongly supports concerted EU action towards Russia. The question, though, still stands: is the leadership of a right-wing populist Law and Justice party pushing Poland in the direction of a „managed democracy,“ or will true liberal democracy prevail?
In Hungary, authoritarian tendencies have become even stronger. Victor Orbán has consolidated his rule, rebuilt institutions, and drawn the spaces for civil society ever tighter. Election victory in 2022 gave Orbán the mandate to continue down this path: Hungary challenges the EU solidarity and unity and abuses the right of veto in the EU decision-making. Where is the Hungarian democracy headed? Do alternative political forces stand any chance against the consolidated Orbán majority?
In our fourth round table of our discussion series „Stress test for Democracy“ we will focus on Poland and Hungary, the state of their democracies and societies.We kindly invite you to join our discussion on 14 February (6-8pm) with
Bulcsú Hunyadi, Political Capital and the Social Development Institute and
Karolina Wigura, Kultura Liberalna Foundation and University of Warsaw.
The evening will be moderated by Dr. Dominik Hierlemann, Senior Advisor at the Bertelsmann Foundation.
