Rubber granite

Despite thousands of protests, Hungarian President Janos Ader said he would sign the third amendment to the country's Constitution. And that's very bad news.

Europe does not get tired of criticizing the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban for building a system that runs counter to democratic values. The right-wing Fidesz party, completely subordinate to Orban, has a constitutional majority in parliament and adopts the laws Orban needs, the government obedient to Orban implements them, there is only one branch of power left in the country - the judiciary, which is still trying to resist. Bye.

Adopted by Fidesz and entered into force on January 1, 2012, the new Constitution of Hungary caused a wave of protests a year ago: due to the fact that there was no referendum, and because of its extremely conservative nature, one could also find a ban in its provisions on abortion, and infringement of the rights of sexual minorities. But Orban was unwavering. “She is immortalized in granite,” the prime minister proudly declared. Granite, however, turned out to be rubber: the text was changed for the third time in a year.

The reason for the changes, in general, is one, and it is called the Constitutional Court. It seems that every time the court recognizes the laws of the Orban-controlled parliament as unconstitutional, Orban changes the Constitution. For example, Parliament banned citizens from being homeless, deciding that this crime should be punishable by a fine. The Constitutional Court rejected this law, but ... surprise - according to the revised version of the Constitution, such a law could well be adopted.

The de facto retroactive effect of constitutional amendments that outlaw verdicts already adopted in accordance with the old Constitution has been sharply criticized. For example, the Hungarian Constitution says that a person's life begins from the moment of conception. Opponents of abortion immediately started talking about their ban, but the Constitutional Court was unequivocal: abortion should not be banned. In accordance with the new amendments, this verdict will need to be revised - it is expected that it will be tougher.

Step by step, Prime Minister Orban is taking more and more power away from his main and only opponent, the Constitutional Court, and Budapest, a member of the European Union and NATO, seems to be increasingly adopting the style of government of its eastern neighbor, Russia. It seems that only one thing will soon remain granite in Hungary - the reactionary regime of Orban himself, for whom both the separation of powers and democracy are loose concepts. Like rubber.