A newly released survey of public opinion across the European Union finds an amazing sentiment: Most people put democratic rule of law above many other EU priorities, such as climate protection or the sharing of financial resources.
“Citizens take the fundamental norms of the EU seriously and are also willing to engage in costly actions to sustain these principles,” wrote three scholars who commissioned the poll.
A second finding was just as stark: Even in member states where norms of democracy are backsliding, “Significant portions of the population might welcome EU sanctions, even at the cost of losing EU funds for their country.”
The poll was timely. On May 27, EU officials again ratcheted up pressure on Hungary for its “rule of law breaches.” The union is already withholding €18 billion ($20.4 billion) in funds from the country, which is facing budgetary and economic woes. And as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán continues to support measures restricting basic freedoms and judicial independence, more European leaders are moving toward what is called the “nuclear option,” or ending Hungary’s voting rights in the bloc. At least 19 out of 25 other member states support such a move, reported Politico.
As the survey suggests, the wind is in the EU’s sails if it takes such a drastic step. On May 22, more than two dozen members of the European Parliament urged the bloc’s leaders to freeze all of Hungary’s EU funds. In July, the EU will begin to discuss its next seven-year budget and could tighten up conditions for that money on countries that violate its core values.
“Hungary’s European isolation and drift towards political pariah status have accelerated,” concluded the Hungarian opposition daily newspaper Nepszava.
Meanwhile, inside the country, Mr. Orbán now faces a serious challenge in next year’s elections from a conservative – and more EU-friendly – opposition leader, Péter Magyar. On May 18, tens of thousands of Hungarians marched in a protest against the government’s erosion of civil liberties.
The survey made one more point: Citizens who identify with Europe perceive the EU as a community bound by shared values. Threats to that collective identity can fuel support for sanctions to protect those values. And among those values, rule of law rules the roost.
