Europe's Illiberal Democracies
The Briefing Room
BBC
4.8 • 731 Ratings
🗓️ 6 October 2016
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Illiberal democracy is gaining traction across Europe - a political philosophy which in part draws support from the far right, championing anti-migrant and anti-EU sentiment.
Among the most visible illiberal democrats' is Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban who believes in the idea of nation states that govern in the interests of their indigenous populations, unencumbered by concepts like human rights, civil liberties and internationalism.
David Aaronovitch explores how ideas once found on Europe's political fringes are becoming increasingly mainstream.
CONTRIBUTORS
Daphne Halikiopoulou, Associate Professor at the University of Reading
Cas Mudde, Professor at the University of Georgia.
Chris Bowlby, BBC journalist and former Prague correspondent
Producer: Joe Kent Researcher: Kirsteen Knight Editor: Innes Bowen
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | They're against liberal democracy, against the protection of minority rights, against pluralism, |
| 0:09.0 | and those are core issues of what we consider to be our democratic system. |
| 0:13.0 | Professor Casmuda has been studying the far right in Europe since the 1980s. |
| 0:18.0 | He's an expert on something he always said wasn't that bigger deal. |
| 0:23.7 | I made my career telling people that they were over-concerned |
| 0:27.7 | and that the far right wasn't that important. |
| 0:29.9 | But now he's changed his mind. |
| 0:32.2 | Now the debate is absolutely dominated by immigration, crime, terrorism, |
| 0:38.3 | and the inability of the EU to deal with it, |
| 0:41.8 | which is exactly what they're saying for years. |
| 0:46.8 | They're no longer the margin or a niche. |
| 0:49.8 | It is very much part of the political mainstream. |
| 0:53.8 | They're riding a perfect storm, and it seems that people are less concerned about them now. |
| 0:59.1 | He'll be joining us in the briefing room to chart the rise of the politicians |
| 1:03.0 | who are proud to call themselves illiberal Democrats. |
| 1:10.2 | But first, the most recent and most visible manifestation of the new illiberal Democrats, |
| 1:16.6 | the referendum on migrants' quotas this weekend, called by Hungary's Prime Minister. |
| 1:22.4 | The BBC's Nick Thorpe has followed the rise of the country's radical and far right. |
| 1:34.3 | The Maguire's on the border on footers, Tsek Thorpe has followed the rise of the country's radical and far right. I am the mayor of Ahto Talon. We welcome everyone who respects our laws and enters our country through our international border crossing point. |
| 1:42.3 | But from now on, the borders are protected by thousands of police and by the Hungarian army. |
| 1:50.0 | At the start of the refugee crisis in Hungary in February 2015, I sat down with |
| 1:58.0 | Lazlo Torotskai, one of the bad boys of the far right in Hungary, to talk about migrants. |
... |
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