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Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán
Photo: ATTILA KISBENEDEK / AFP
Shortly before the end of the current corona emergency, Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán found a way to continue to govern by decree.
The parliament in Budapest created a new category of emergency on Tuesday.
The government can now also declare a state of emergency when a neighboring country is affected by armed conflict, war or a humanitarian disaster.
Ukraine, against which Russia has been waging a war of aggression for three months, is one of Hungary's neighbors.
The 136 MPs of the right-wing nationalist Fidesz party voted for the corresponding constitutional amendment.
Confirmation by Parliament is considered a formality
The health emergency that Orbán imposed at the beginning of the corona pandemic in spring 2020 and that Parliament has since extended several times expires on May 31.
With the constitutional amendment, Orbán can now declare a state of emergency again.
This should apply from midnight, as Orbán announced in a Facebook video.
Orbán said his cabinet needed the room for maneuver under the state of emergency in order to be able to react quickly to the challenges posed by the war.
The state of emergency is intended to protect the country from the economic impact of Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine.
The state of emergency allows Orbán to repeal current laws and impose coercive measures by decree.
Parliament must confirm this after 15 days at the latest.
Given the vast majority of Orbán-led Fidesz party, this is considered a formality.
Orbán also used the health emergency for purposes that could hardly be justified by overcoming the health situation.
These included measures to financially damage opposition-governed communities or to give advantages to pro-government businessmen.
Orbán has been accused for years of governing Hungary autocratically and using unfair means to hold on to the elections.
Among other things, he has brought the media under his control.
At the beginning of April, Orbán was re-elected by a huge margin, and his Fidesz party has a two-thirds majority in parliament.
Orbán is in conflict with many other EU countries. His government in Brussels is currently trying to extort concessions by refusing to stop Russian oil imports.
slue/dpa/Reuters