Hungarian withdrawal from the European Union

It has been proposed that Hungary withdraw from the European Union (EU), which is sometimes referred to as Huxit,^[1] Huexit,^[2] Hunxit^[3] and Hunexit^[4] (all being portmanteaus of "Hungary" and "exit").^[5] In Hungary, member of the EU since 2004, right-wing populist politicians have tried to create a comparison between the EU and the former Soviet Union (USSR), seen as a past oppressor in the country. Furthermore, democratic backsliding is a phenomenon present in Hungary. For all of this, it has been suggested that Hungary should leave the EU.^[6]

Location of Hungary in the European Union

In 2021, the Parliament of Hungary promulgated the so-called Hungarian anti-LGBT law, which aims to ban all content for children that may be considered as "promoting homosexuality" and which makes a relationship between the LGBT community and pedophilia. This received a heavy negative response from other countries of the EU, with Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte even suggesting Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán to leave the EU.^[7][8]

On 8 May 2022, János Volner, former member of the political party Jobbik, announced that his own political party, the Volner Party, would be renamed to Huxit Party and adopt a Hungarian withdrawal from the EU as its main objective.^[9]

Hungary is legally allowed to leave the EU according to Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. Therefore, the country could leave the union after the organization of a referendum, for which it would be necessary to change the Constitution of Hungary with the support of two-thirds of the Hungarian parliament. Such a thing was proposed by the Hungarian politician Dóra Dúró, member of the party Our Homeland Movement.^[3] However, withdrawal from the EU is not popular among the Hungarian public. A 2016 poll revealed that 68% of Hungarians wanted to stay in the EU and that only 17% preferred to leave.^[10] In 2020, support for the EU was even higher, with 85% of polled Hungarians supporting the membership of the country in the union.^[11]

References

1. Verseck, Keno (21 August 2021). "Hungary vs EU: Is Orban striving for Huxit?". Deutsche Welle.
2. "Viktor Orbán a vorbit în premieră despre posibilitatea ca Ungaria să iasă din UE. Budapesta neagă informația" (in Romanian). Radio Europa Liberă România. 13 February 2022.
3. "Ki tudná léptetni a kormány Magyarországot az EU-ból?". Szabad Európa (in Hungarian). 8 December 2020.
4. Scholtz, Leopold (23 March 2021). "Is "Hunexit" en "Polexit" volgende?". Maroela Media (in Afrikaans).
5. "Huxit: Could Hungary go the way of Great Britain?". Kafkadesk. 17 August 2021.
6. Spike, Justin; Gera, Vanessa (25 September 2021). "Is it a bluff? Some in Hungary and Poland talk of EU pullout". Yahoo! News.
7. Tadeo, Maria; Albanese, Chiara (24 June 2021). "Dutch leader challenges Hungary to leave EU over LGBTQ spat". Bloomberg News.
8. Baczynska, Gabriela (25 June 2021). "EU to Hungary's Orbán: Respect LGBT rights or leave". Reuters.
9. Bereznay, István (8 May 2022). "A Volner Párt Huxit néven folytatja, kiléptetnék az országot az EU-ból" (in Hungarian). Index.
10. Adam, Christopher (4 August 2016). "No Huxit referendum – Proposed vote on Hungary leaving the EU deemed unconstitutional". Hungarian Free Press.
11. "Medián: Rekordon a magyar EU-tagság támogatottsága". Heti Világgazdaság (in Hungarian). 9 December 2020.

External links

•   The dictionary definition of Huxit at Wiktionary