Friday

29th Sep 2023

Hungarians rally against Orbán's moves to shore up finances

  • PM Viktor Orban. On Monday morning, a few hundred protestors, led mostly by food-delivery bikers, blocked one of the key bridges in Budapest to disrupt morning traffic in the capital (Photo: European Parliament)
Listen to article

Protests continued in Hungary on Monday (18 July) for the sixth day, after prime minister Viktor Orbán's rightwing Fidesz party passed legislation last week sharply raising taxes on small firms and entrepreneurs.

On Monday morning, a few hundred protestors, led mostly by food-delivery bikers, blocked one of the key bridges in Budapest to disrupt morning traffic in the capital.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

The series of small protests over the last week in Budapest were prompted by the Fidesz-dominated parliament's lightning speed decision to increase the tax rate for hundreds of thousands of small firms, starting from September.

The tax increase comes when inflation is at a two-decade high at 11.7 percent and the forint is at record lows.

Making matters worse for households, there is a spike in energy prices and the government decided to roll back the subsidies on utility bills for higher-usage households, scrapping Orbán's flagship policy.

Orbán's government has already capped the prices of some basic food stuffs and introduced a ceiling for petrol prices for cars with Hungarian license plates — sparking a legal probe from the EU Commission over breaking the bloc's single-market rules.

Deepening the economic troubles, and adding to the weakening of the forint and rising debt, EU funds have been in limbo because of concerns over democratic standards and rule of law in Hungary.

The Orbán government and the EU Commission have been locked in talks, as the commission made the approval of Hungary's EU recovery funds conditional on legal changes that reinforce anti-corruption measures.

Justice minister Judit Varga told the Financial Times that Budapest had sent texts of planned legislation to the commission after receiving signals its broad plans were acceptable.

Varga said that talks with the commission have become less politicised after Orbán's fourth consecutive election win in April.

But the delay costs Hungary money, as the commission adjusted the possible obtainable grants, based on Hungary's latest GDP performance last year, to €5.8bn from more than €7bn.

Despite public discontent with Orban's latest austerity measures to shore up Hungary's finances, the anti-government movement is struggling to get a momentum as opposition parties are still in tatters after Orbán's knock-out victory in April.

Addressing a rally on Saturday, Péter Márki-Zay, who headed the united opposition coalition but lost against Orbán, said the nationalist premier's campaign promises had been "proven to be lies".

In his regular radio address last Friday, Orbán defended the tax law change as "good and necessary".

Hungary wants EU billions for Russia oil-ban deal

Hungary is continuing to block an EU oil embargo on Russia, but there is optimism its objections can soon be overcome — perhaps within a few days to "a week or two", according to some EU foreign ministers.

Hungary seeks to buy more gas from Russia

Hungary's prime minister Viktor Orbán is facing one of his biggest challenges of his more than a decade-long rule, as the economic pressures keep mounting, and EU funds remain suspended due to rule-of-law concerns.

Opinion

Orbán's 'revenge law' is an Orwellian crackdown on education

On Tuesday, the Hungarian parliament passed a troubling piece of legislation known by its critics as the 'revenge law', which aims to punish and intimidate teachers who dare to defy Viktor Orbán's regime. This law is a brutally oppressive tool.

Latest News

  1. Poland's culture of fear after three years of abortion 'ban'
  2. Time for a reset: EU regional funding needs overhauling
  3. Germany tightens police checks on Czech and Polish border
  4. EU Ombudsman warns of 'new normal' of crisis decision-making
  5. How do you make embarrassing EU documents 'disappear'?
  6. Resurgent Fico hopes for Slovak comeback at Saturday's election
  7. EU and US urge Azerbijan to allow aid access to Armenians
  8. EU warns of Russian 'mass manipulation' as elections loom

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators, industry & healthcare experts at the 24th IMDRF session, September 25-26, Berlin. Register by 20 Sept to join in person or online.
  2. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  3. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  4. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators & industry experts at the 24th IMDRF session- Berlin September 25-26. Register early for discounted hotel rates
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch
  6. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us