The Thanksgiving lull has set in, so I’ll be off to work early, trying to make what money I can despite the winter slowdown, despite an employer who won’t admit being an employer, who treats workers as utterly expendable, ferrying entitled but also expendable passengers around. Not thankful.
My delay comes from a realization that I need to update my offline maps. Holidays are unpredictable. I never know where I’ll end up so on this, of all days, updated maps are crucial.
Illiberalism
Fig. 1. Photograph by Joachim F. Thurn, August 1991, Bundesarchiv, B 145 Bild-F089030-0003, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE.
I had wondered[1] how far Viktor Orbán’s promises[2] actually went to satisfy European Union demands. Joseph Sternberg perceived capitulation,[3] but I guess the European Commission’s answer is indeed, not far enough:[4]
Hungary has failed to adopt promised rule-of-law reforms, the European Commission decided Wednesday, putting billions in EU cash in jeopardy for the country.
The determination comes as Brussels wrangles with Viktor Orbán’s government over the release of both €7.5 billion in regular EU payouts and €5.8 billion in pandemic recovery grants — money the EU has temporarily frozen over democratic backsliding concerns in Hungary.
While the Commission on Wednesday recommended approving Hungary’s plan to spend its recovery funds, it was clear that the country would not actually get the money until it implements 27 specific rule-of-law upgrades.
Meanwhile, the Commission also concluded that Hungary had fallen short in fulfilling a prior pledge to adopt 17 rule-of-law reforms that are needed to access the €7.5 billion in EU funds, which are being held up under a mechanism allowing the EU to freeze funds at risk of graft.[5]
This decision has yet to be ratified. It also calls for an additional 10 reforms, now totaling 27, to roll back Orbán’s competitive authoritarian regime.[6]
Paola Tamma and Jakob Hanke Vela, “Hungary’s EU cash at risk after European Commission concludes reforms fell short,” Politico, November 23, 2022, https://www.politico.eu/article/brussels-eu-funds-hungary-reforms-von-der-leyen-viktor-orban-commision/
- [1]David Benfell, “In an election that was the Republicans’ to lose, they’re not doing so hot,” Irregular Bullshit, November 9, 2022, https://disunitedstates.com/2022/11/09/in-an-election-that-was-the-republicans-to-lose-theyre-not-doing-so-hot/↩
- [2]Paola Tamma, “Hungary vows to overhaul its judiciary, hoping to unlock EU funds,” Politico, November 7, 2022, https://www.politico.eu/article/hungary-overhaul-judiciary-unlock-eu-funds/↩
- [3]Joseph C. Sternberg, “Orbán and the Collapse of the Trump Intellectuals,” Wall Street Journal, November 17, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/orban-and-the-collapse-of-the-trump-intellectuals-hungary-national-conservatives-brussels-european-union-money-legal-corruption-reform-11668696725↩
- [4]Paola Tamma and Jakob Hanke Vela, “Hungary’s EU cash at risk after European Commission concludes reforms fell short,” Politico, November 23, 2022, https://www.politico.eu/article/brussels-eu-funds-hungary-reforms-von-der-leyen-viktor-orban-commision/↩
- [5]Paola Tamma and Jakob Hanke Vela, “Hungary’s EU cash at risk after European Commission concludes reforms fell short,” Politico, November 23, 2022, https://www.politico.eu/article/brussels-eu-funds-hungary-reforms-von-der-leyen-viktor-orban-commision/↩
- [6]Paola Tamma and Jakob Hanke Vela, “Hungary’s EU cash at risk after European Commission concludes reforms fell short,” Politico, November 23, 2022, https://www.politico.eu/article/brussels-eu-funds-hungary-reforms-von-der-leyen-viktor-orban-commision/↩