Hungarian withdrawal from the European Union

Last updated

Location of Hungary in the European Union EU-Hungary.svg
Location of Hungary in the European Union

It has been proposed that Hungary withdraw from the European Union (EU), a scenario sometimes referred to as Huxit, [1] Huexit, [2] Hunxit, [3] and Hunexit, [4] all being portmanteaus of "Hungary" and "exit". [5] In Hungary, a member of the EU since 2004, right-wing populist politicians have drawn comparisons between the EU and the former Soviet Union (USSR), seen as a past oppressor in the country. Furthermore, democratic backsliding is a phenomenon present in Hungary. As a result, it has been suggested that Hungary should leave the EU. [6]

Contents

In 2021, the Parliament of Hungary promulgated the Hungarian anti-LGBT law, which aimed to ban all content for children that may be considered as "promoting homosexuality" and which linked the LGBT community to pedophilia. This law received significant criticism from other EU countries, with the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, even suggesting to the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, that Hungary should leave the EU. [7] [8]

On 8 May 2022, János Volner, a former member of the political party Jobbik, announced that his own political party, the Volner Party, would be renamed the Huxit Party and adopt Hungarian withdrawal from the EU as its main objective. [9]

Hungary is legally allowed to leave the EU according to Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. Therefore, the country could exit the union following a referendum, which would require a change to the Constitution of Hungary with the support of two-thirds of the Hungarian parliament. This was proposed by Hungarian politician Dóra Dúró, a member of the Our Homeland Movement party. [3] However, withdrawal from the EU is not popular among the Hungarian public. A 2016 poll revealed that 68% of Hungarians wanted to remain in the EU, while only 17% preferred to leave. [10] In 2020, support for the EU was even higher, with 85% of polled Hungarians supporting the country's membership in the union. [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Euroscepticism</span> Body of criticism of the European Union

Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek reform, to those who oppose EU membership and see the EU as unreformable. The opposite of Euroscepticism is known as pro-Europeanism, or European Unionism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fidesz</span> Political party in Hungary

Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Hungary led by Viktor Orbán.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European People's Party</span> European political party

The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian democratic, liberal-conservative, and conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily Christian-democratic parties in 1976, it has since broadened its membership to include liberal-conservative parties and parties with other centre-right political perspectives. On 31 May 2022, the party elected as its President Manfred Weber, who was also EPP's Spitzenkandidat in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viktor Orbán</span> Prime Minister of Hungary (1998–2002; 2010–present)

Viktor Mihály Orbán is a Hungarian lawyer and politician who has been Prime Minister of Hungary since 2010, previously holding the office from 1998 to 2002. He has led the Fidesz political party since 1993, with a break between 2000 and 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in Hungary</span>

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Hungary face legal and social challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Homosexuality is legal in Hungary for both men and women. Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and sex is banned in the country. However, households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for all of the same legal rights available to heterosexual married couples. Registered partnership for same-sex couples was legalised in 2009, but same-sex marriage remains banned. The Hungarian government has passed legislation that restricts the civil rights of LGBT Hungarians – such as ending legal recognition of transgender Hungarians and banning LGBT content and displays for minors. This trend continues under the Fidesz government of Viktor Orbán. In June 2021, Hungary passed an anti-LGBT law on banning "homosexual and transexual propaganda" effective since 1 July. The law has been condemned by seventeen member states of the European Union. In July 2020, the European Commission started legal action against Hungary and Poland for violations of fundamental rights of LGBTQI people, stating: "Europe will never allow parts of our society to be stigmatized."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jobbik</span> Hungarian political party

The Jobbik – Conservatives, commonly known as Jobbik, is a conservative political party in Hungary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Withdrawal from the European Union</span> Legal process of Article 50 of the Treaty of European Union

Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) provides for the possibility of an EU member state leaving the European Union "in accordance with its own constitutional requirements".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enlargement of the eurozone</span>

The enlargement of the eurozone is an ongoing process within the European Union (EU). All member states of the European Union, except Denmark which negotiated an opt-out from the provisions, are obliged to adopt the euro as their sole currency once they meet the criteria, which include: complying with the debt and deficit criteria outlined by the Stability and Growth Pact, keeping inflation and long-term governmental interest rates below certain reference values, stabilising their currency's exchange rate versus the euro by participating in the European Exchange Rate Mechanism, and ensuring that their national laws comply with the ECB statute, ESCB statute and articles 130+131 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The obligation for EU member states to adopt the euro was first outlined by article 109.1j of the Maastricht Treaty of 1992, which became binding on all new member states by the terms of their treaties of accession.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brexit</span> UK withdrawal from the European Union (2020)

Brexit was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Following a referendum held on 23 June 2016, Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020. The UK is the only sovereign country to have left the EU. The UK had been a member state of the EU or its predecessor, the European Communities (EC), since 1 January 1973. Following Brexit, EU law and the Court of Justice of the European Union no longer have primacy over British laws. The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 retains relevant EU law as domestic law, which the UK can amend or repeal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Third Orbán Government</span>

The third government of Viktor Orbán was the Government of Hungary between 6 June 2014 and 18 May 2018. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán formed his third cabinet after his party-alliance, Fidesz and its coalition partner, Christian Democratic People's Party (KDNP) altogether won a qualified majority in the 2014 parliamentary election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Hungarian migrant quota referendum</span>

A referendum related to the European Union's migrant relocation plans was held in Hungary on 2 October 2016. The referendum was initiated by the government, under the provision of article 8 of the new constitution of 2012. It was commonly referred to as the kvótanépszavazás or kvótareferendum in the Hungarian media.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Hungarian parliamentary election</span>

Parliamentary elections were held in Hungary on 3 April 2022 to elect the National Assembly, coinciding with a referendum. Hungary's incumbent prime minister Viktor Orbán won re-election to a fourth term. Addressing his supporters after the partial results showed Fidesz leading by a wide margin, Orbán said: "We won a victory so big that you can see it from the moon, and you can certainly see it from Brussels." Opposition leader Péter Márki-Zay admitted defeat shortly after Orbán's speech. Reuters described it as a "crushing victory".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 European Parliament election in Hungary</span>

An election of Members of the European Parliament from Hungary to the European Parliament was held on 26 May 2019, electing the 21 members of the Hungary delegation to the European Parliament as part of the European elections held across the European Union.

The following lists events in the year 2020 in Hungary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romanian withdrawal from the European Union</span> Proposed withdrawal of Romania from the European Union

It has been proposed that Romania withdraw from the European Union (EU), this sometimes being known as Roexit or Romexit.

This is a timeline of the relations between Hungary and the European Union (EU), since the transition in Hungary in 1989-90.

Events in the year 2021 in Hungary.

The Act LXXIX of 2021 on taking more severe action against paedophile offenders and amending certain Acts for the protection of children, often mentioned in English-language media as Hungary's anti-LGBT law, are legislative amendments that were approved by the Hungarian Parliament on 15 June 2021, on a 157–1 vote with most opposition parties at the time boycotting the vote. It was condemned by human rights groups and left-wing Hungarian opposition parties as discriminatory against the LGBT community. The EU and the United States consider the amendments to be discriminatory anti-LGBT restrictions. By contrast, most Eastern European EU countries did not take a public stance, apart from Poland, which supported the Hungarian position.

Events in the year 2022 in Hungary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Hungarian LGBT in education referendum</span> Referendum in Hungary

A referendum was held in Hungary on 3 April 2022, coinciding with the parliamentary elections. While the overwhelming majority of valid votes were cast as "no" to the four referendum questions, the share of valid votes was below the 50% required for the result to be considered valid.

References

  1. Verseck, Keno (21 August 2021). "Hungary vs EU: Is Orban striving for Huxit?". Deutsche Welle .
  2. "Viktor Orbán a vorbit în premieră despre posibilitatea ca Ungaria să iasă din UE. Budapesta neagă informația" (in Romanian). Radio Europa Liberă România. 13 February 2022.
  3. 1 2 "Ki tudná léptetni a kormány Magyarországot az EU-ból?". Szabad Európa (in Hungarian). 8 December 2020.
  4. Scholtz, Leopold (23 March 2021). "Is "Hunexit" en "Polexit" volgende?". Maroela Media (in Afrikaans).
  5. "Huxit: Could Hungary go the way of Great Britain?". Kafkadesk. 17 August 2021.
  6. Spike, Justin; Gera, Vanessa (25 September 2021). "Is it a bluff? Some in Hungary and Poland talk of EU pullout". Yahoo! News .
  7. Tadeo, Maria; Albanese, Chiara (24 June 2021). "Dutch leader challenges Hungary to leave EU over LGBTQ spat". Bloomberg News .
  8. Baczynska, Gabriela (25 June 2021). "EU to Hungary's Orbán: Respect LGBT rights or leave". Reuters .
  9. Bereznay, István (8 May 2022). "A Volner Párt Huxit néven folytatja, kiléptetnék az országot az EU-ból" (in Hungarian). Index.
  10. Adam, Christopher (4 August 2016). "No Huxit referendum – Proposed vote on Hungary leaving the EU deemed unconstitutional". Hungarian Free Press.
  11. "Medián: Rekordon a magyar EU-tagság támogatottsága". Heti Világgazdaság (in Hungarian). 9 December 2020.