Brussels, 03/02/2015 (Agence Europe) - During her visit to Budapest on Monday 2 February, German Chancellor Angela Merkel criticised the view of democracy being peddled by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and said that it was of the greatest importance “in a democracy, even when one holds a strong majority, to respect the role of the opposition, of civil society and of the media”.
With Orban regularly accused of seeking to suppress NGOs or the media. Merkel also said she could not understand his comments of a year ago when he spoke of dreaming of democracies and illiberal states, like Russian and Turkey. “Honestly, I do not understand what 'illiberal' means when one is speaking about democracy”, Merkel stated at a joint press conference.
Later, in a speech delivered at the Andrassy University in Budapest, the chancellor added that, “in a democracy, the opposition is not an enemy. The majority must protect the minority … by respecting the constitution”, AFP reports. “Civil society must feel safe, must feel that it can communicate freely”, she stated.
Merkel was in Budapest for discussions with her Hungarian counterpart on the situation in Ukraine and EU-Russia relations, with Orban, despite supporting economic sanctions, providing significant support to Vladimir Putin. (SP)