Merkel Rebuffed in Hungary as Orban Backs ‘Illiberal’ State; Thousands Gather in Budapest to Protest

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Shift Toward Russia

Merkel Rebuffed in Hungary as Orban Backs ‘Illiberal’ State

Prime Minister Viktor Orban rejected German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s critique of democracy in Hungary while she courted him to hold the European Union’s line on sanctions against Russia.

Merkel’s trip to Budapest on Monday, her first to the ex-communist nation in more than five years, follows months of anti-government protests and criticism of Orban’s domestic policies by European and U.S. officials. At a joint news conference, Merkel disputed Orban’s idea that democracy can be “illiberal,” drawing a riposte from her host.

“Not all democracies have to be liberal,” said Orban, who plans to host Russian President Vladimir Putin on Feb. 17. “Those who say that democracy is necessarily liberal are trying to put one school of thought above the rest and we’re not going to grant that privilege.”

“We spoke about the issue of democracy and its attributes,” Merkel said. “This discussion needs to be deepened” and “honestly, I can’t put the words ’illiberal’ and ’democracy’ together.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-02/merkel-courts-orban-seeking-eu-unity-on-russia-sanctions

Thousands Gather in Budapest to Protest Hungary's Shift Toward Russia

A day before German Chancellor Angela Merkel was due to travel to Budapest, several thousand people gathered outside Hungary's parliament to tell the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban to respect its Western ties rather than look east toward Moscow.

Protesters held up signs and chanted slogans on Sunday to demand that Hungary stay within the EU's fold and away from the Kremlin's orbit, demanding Orban's ouster for eroding democratic freedoms, perceived corruption and diplomatic conflicts with the West.

"We dislike the directed democracy, the kind of dictatorship Putin has built in Russia. And this is the direction in which the Orban government is going," protester Jozsef Bruck said.

Vilmos Torok, the protester who held up that sign, said: "We are brothers here in Europe with Germans. I expect her to tell Orban to back off, behave in a more European way … His disrespect for liberal freedoms has earned him the Little Putin moniker in Europe — but also in Hungary."

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/thousands-gather-in-budapest-to-protest-hungary-s-shift-toward-russia/515223.html