Axiological Disintegration of the EU? The Case of Hungary

In 2010 Hungary entered a new chapter in its history, described on the domestic stage as ‘the struggle for freedom’, the ‘age of national independence’ (from any foreign diktat) and the ‘unorthodox economy’, which led also to its ‘opening to the East’ (including China and Russia). The unquestioned leader of the state, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, even confi rmed that this is ‘an illiberal system’, moving ever further and further away from the liberal democracy established in 1990. Using mainly Hungarian language sources (as only small part of the crucial material is available in English), this study tries to describe the essence of the new system, the way it works, and what it looks like. The importance of this Hungarian case study lies in the fact that it constitutes yet another challenge on the path of European integration, along with so many other obstacles that have recently been occurring. Is the new Hungarian system a model for the others in the region and for the whole EU? No one knows the answer, but it is high time we examined what the Hungarian system looks like from the inside, after its departure from the rule of law, liberal democracy, and the system of checks and balances.