Brussels, 07/04/2014 (Agence Europe) - The bête noire of European Commission and, in particular, of Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding for many months, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was able to thumb his nose at the EU once again on Sunday 6 April, with his comfortable win in the general elections, although AFP reports that the suspense was due to continue on Monday 7 April regarding his ability to secure a two-thirds majority in the parliament. One thing, however, is certain: the extreme right-wing party, Jobbik, did considerably better than it did in 2010.
According to the partial results (based on a count of 93.12% of the votes), Orban won 44.61% of the votes with his Fidesz party. Although he appears to have done less well than he did four years ago (52.7%), he is still believed to have won 133 seats out of 199, or just over the two-thirds majority, according to the electoral commission, which will return its definitive results on Monday.
“We are quite safe in saying that we have won”, Orban told his supporters, before it is known whether or not his party will hang onto its “super-majority”. In 2011 and 2012, this allowed it to introduce a whole raft of reforms, described by some as “hostile to freedom”, such as the law on the media or the compulsory retirement for judges. These reforms led to much crossing of swords, particularly from a legal point of view, with the Commission (one dispute is still open, regarding the independence of the Hungarian data protection supervisor) and attracted several critical resolutions from the European Parliament. At the time, Orban several times compared the EU to the former USSR, under whose regime Hungary previously fell.
According to the partial results, the left-wing alliance is believed to have won 38 seats in total and the extreme right-wing party Jobbik 23, pulling in one vote out of every five. This anti-Roma and anti-Semitic party gained a foothold in Parliament in 2010 with 17% of the votes. This year, it is set to achieve 20.6.
President Barroso of the Commission sent his personal congratulations to Orban in a telephone call on Sunday evening and praised his work, particularly in the field of the economy (unemployment is down and the deficit has dropped below the 3% of GDP mark), a Commission spokesperson, Pia Ahrendilke Hansen, announced on Monday.
French MEP Joseph Daul, President of the EPP party, who went to Hungary to support Orban on the ground, also welcomed the victory.
Hannes Swoboda, leader of the S&D Group at the EP, said in a press release that, irrespective of the size of his victory, Orban would not be absolved from complying with European laws and values. Swoboda stated that the Hungarian prime minister had spent the last few years re-drafting the constitution and passing laws that frequently went beyond what is acceptable in a “European democracy”. Swoboda argues that the EU must continue to monitor the country. (SP)