CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2018
| Author | Borbély, Réka |
|---|---|
| Title | Back to the Past: Backsliding in Poland and Hungary and the Future Prospects of the European Union |
| Summary | Hungary and Poland started out as success stories in 1989, however today both project significant backsliding in liberal democratic values. Euroscepticism, ethno-nationalism and populism is rising; Orbán and Kaczyński lead their countries against the European wind. The paper shows that traditions of the past could not be so easily overridden. Ultimately for both countries the accession to the European Union was rushed and liberal democratic values could not be properly entrenched in the mainstream, in countries which were under foreign rule for a significant amount of time and still figuring out their own identity. The thesis outlines various domestic and external issues that have led to the election of first Fidesz, and Viktor Orbán, and then, PiS and with it, the person who leads from behind the curtains, Jaroslaw Kaczyński. The Hungarian ‘example’ was followed in Poland and caused both to go against almost every founding principle of the European Union. By this its very essence came into question, which should categorize the rise of illiberal democracies as the foremost issue to be solved. |
| Supervisor | Balázs, Péter |
| Department | International Relations MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2018/borbely_reka.pdf |
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