There are numerous side effects of the pandemic triggered by Covid-19. Certainly, among the most evident in terms of social control is the elimination of all forms of civil protest against authoritarian governments or for the defense of rights: from Chile to Hong Kong, from Argentina to Brazil to India, not to forget Iran, Iraq and Lebanon. Not least Turkey, which surprisingly declared a two-day curfew on the eve of Easter.
And if, for each of these contexts, we could find ideas from political situations that have deteriorated in recent months or from a worsening of the economic crises of the countries, what is happening in Hungary and Poland it has been planned for some time.
Right in the middle of a European Union, these two countries offer food for thought on the distribution of European financial resources between countries adhering to the Euro and countries of the European Union outside the Eurozone.
Eight EU countries use their own national currency. They are thought to be anxiously waiting to join the euro, once certain pre-defined criteria have been met, but evidently they are in no hurry to comply, as they can still enjoy a large part of the financial benefits of membership.
Thus, in conjunction with the compromise reached by the Eurogroup, which has launched a series of measures in agreement with the ECB, the expectation of a united front that opposes the "sovereign pirates" ready to board against European resources becomes inevitable .
HUNGARY: ORBAN AND THE MAGIARO IDENTITY DREAM
With the approval of a law at the end of March for the emergency management of Covid-19, the Hungarian government has exacerbated the state of emergency already declared at the beginning of the month, allowing Premier Orban to govern by decree and effectively ousting Parliament through a clause foreseen by the new Constitution introduced (by Orban himself) nine years ago. The announcement of an increase in penalties for the disclosure of false information then puts definitively a gag in print and media, as well as of course to the oppositions.
The condemnation of the United Nations was joined by the warning of the Council of Europe on this seizure of unlimited power which violates democratic rules.
If anyone had doubts about Hungary's rebelliousness towards the euro, just listen to the numerous statements of Gyorgy Matolcsy, governor of the Hungarian Central Bank and number one of Fidesz, the Hungarian Civic Union, a conservative Christian democratic party suspended since 2019 by the Popular Party European Union (PPE) for a smear campaign against former European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. Matolcsy praises Brexit and nuclear energy, accusing among other things the Hungarian Greens of being an expression of the extreme left.
Then there are Orban's position on the Carpathian Mountains as a fundamental basin for producing food and clean water for Hungary after climate change. These statements are linked to the entry policy with dual citizenship that Orban guaranteed with the 2011 Constitution to the almost 3 million "Hungarian" people outside the borders of Hungary, in the Carpathian Basin, without taking into account that half of these are in Romania.
One wonders what happened to the resolution passed in 2017 – and supported by an Amnesty International Report – with which the European Parliament committed the Commission to start the procedures sanctioned by article 7 of the Treaty, which provides for member states that violate the fundamental rights of citizens a series of sanctions, up to the suspension of the right to vote in the European Council.
As if nothing had happened, with total impunity, Orban organizes a new Hungarian right-wing party to merge into the European group that welcomes conservative nationalists and sovereigns, including Poles and Italians, thus overcoming the isolation imposed on Fidesz.
“COUNTRY AND FAMILY” LEAD THE NATIONALISTS IN THE ELECTION CAMPAIGN
But the Polish-Hungarian plan based on the political opportunism of the European Union had already been sanctioned in 2016, precisely in the Carpathians. In that historic meeting, the two countries united their respective rhetoric on anti-migrant policies that would have led them to erect walls of barbed wire and to conduct electoral campaigns heralding new limitations on individual freedoms, starting with that of the press. All this to justify a drift that has nothing to do with a pro-European union of intent, but only with opportunistic demands linked to thehoarding of European structural funds.
It should therefore come as no surprise that the Poland, with great timing, on 6 April obtained from the European Commissionunder the State aid Temporary Framework, an economic assistance package. The Community executive explained that Poland will make use of the new regime which allows for insurance public guarantees for a maximum amount of 22 billion euros. The support consists of the provision by the National Development Bank of Poland of public guarantees on investment loans and working capital loans. The funds will be available to medium and large Polish companies active in all sectors. From the point of view of companies, it is an effective aid to cover immediate working capital and investment needs, ensuring sufficient liquidity for production continuity. Measure similar to the one that in the 2008 crisis allowed Poland, which is the main recipient of European funds, to be the only EU country not to go into recession.
In any case, even the Polish government - like the Hungarian one - does not shine on the civil rights of women and girls. In fact, next week the parliament in Warsaw will discuss two bills: one envisages further restrictions on access to abortion, while the other intends criminalize sex educators, comparing them to pedophiles. As for the Polish presidential election scheduled for May, it now seems certain that they will be postponed.
Meanwhile, 10 years have passed since the Smolensk plane crash, in which the late president Lech Kaczynski stood out among the 96 deceased personalities. The Russians are continuing to investigate that tragedy, and are keeping the remains of the Tu-154 Siły Powietrzne aircraft.
The Kremlin watches the moves of Poles and Hungarians with great attention to the obvious implications they can have in a political and financial weakening of the EU. There is no shortage of suspicions that Moscow has also extended funding to the anti-euro parties to Warsaw and Budapest, which for the past 5 years have come to the attention of the European institutions.
In light of all this, Brussels should definitely suspend any kind of financial support towards countries which, instead of being in spasmodic anticipation of joining the Eurozone, are dancing a macabre dance without taking a step away from requests without logic or ethics.
On closer inspection, and speaking of opportunism, in the European debate these days - in addition to the requests of the sovereignists of the "Mitteleuropa that was" - the attitude of the supercompetitive also clashes Holland, which is confirmed as a paradise for holding companies thanks to particularly simplified corporate law and minimal taxation on profits.
