Hungary Emergency: Hungary is already in a state of emergency – linked to the Kovid epidemic.
Budapest:
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Tuesday declared a new state of emergency, citing challenges posed by the ongoing war in neighboring Ukraine.
Hungary is already under a state of emergency, linked to the Kovid epidemic, which was due to end next Tuesday.
“The world is on the brink of an economic crisis. Hungary must stay out of this war and protect the financial security of its family,” the nationalist leader said on Facebook, in a comment raising new concerns about rights restrictions.
“This requires space for strategy and immediate action. The government, exercising its rights under the basic law, declares a state of emergency due to the war until midnight,” Urban added.
Shortly before the announcement, Hungary’s parliament, which had just been sworn in, amended the constitution to allow such an arrangement.
Urban’s Fidez party has a two-thirds majority in the chamber.
The decision-making rules under the new law will be announced on Wednesday, Urban said.
The Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (TASZ) condemned the move, saying it was a “state of emergency.”
The move “gives Urban more opportunities than usual”, allowing him to “restrict or simply suspend the fundamental rights of all,” which he described as a marginalization of parliament.
Urban, who has been in power for 12 years, has been regularly accused by his Western partners of abuse of power in his country, a member of both the European Union and NATO.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by NDTV staff and was published from a syndicated feed.)
