The Illiberal Democrats
Analysis
BBC
4.6 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 5 February 2018
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Poland and Hungary appear to be on paths to what the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban called "illiberal democracy". What does this mean for the European Union? Naomi Grimley hears how in Hungary a respected newspaper was shut down overnight after criticising government officials. A liberal university is fighting for its survival. In Poland, a popular singer was disinvited from a festival after speaking out against the proposed outlawing of abortion. Laws have been passed which give politicians more control over the appointment of judges. Both countries are in trouble with the European Commission. And yet, the view from Warsaw and Budapest is that their governments were democratically elected, and that they are enacting the will of their peoples - a will that may not be the same as that of Brussels, but has a popular mandate. In Hungary, Naomi is told that the country simply wants to keep its Christian identity. In Poland, the argument is that the changes of the court systems are simply an overdue updating of the judiciary after the Communist era, and that Poland is entitled to develop as its voters see fit. Could their new paths divide East and West and eventually threaten the EU itself? Producer: Arlene Gregorius.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
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| 0:48.0 | If you have, then thank you. You won't regret it. |
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| 0:52.0 | Naomi Grimley is the BBC's Global Affairs Correspondent, |
| 0:55.0 | and she's had her eye on political developments in Hungary and Poland for a while. |
| 0:59.0 | In this programme, she reports from both countries |
| 1:02.0 | about what some have called Europe's |
| 1:03.8 | illiberal Democrats. Here she is. |
| 1:06.6 | Before we start, bear with me while we listen to a short but important burst of Hungarian. |
| 1:12.6 | That's Victor Orbán, Prime Minister of Hungary since 2010, |
| 1:21.6 | introducing his utopia of an illiberal democracy in footage from Duma TV. |
| 1:28.7 | This vision of the nation's state has been praised by many of the populist parties in Europe. It's currently |
| 1:35.0 | presenting the EU with a headache which may even rival the issue of Brexit. |
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