EU Scream

This episode of EU Scream aired a couple of weeks ago amid expectations Europe’s conservatives would expel Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary and his Fidesz party for violating the rule of law and insulting EU leaders.

Last week the European People’s Party, as the conservatives are known, agreed a mere suspension.

Rather than showing contrition, Orbán immediately resumed his belligerent stance against migrants and the European Commission. Listen to this update to hear Orbán indulging in post-truth politicking so fanciful that journalists burst out laughing.

It’s against this background that we are revisiting stories and analysis from three people smeared by Orban and Fidesz: the human rights activist Márta Pardavi; the European Parliamentarian Judith Sargentini; and the political scientist Péter Krekó.

The smears they describe are part of an atmosphere of political and psychological warfare in Hungary and could serve as a model for other strong men and autocrats in Europe.

Pardavi is co-chair of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, a human rights group based in Budapest and among the most prominent targets of Orbán’s ire. Last year Pardavi was honoured for her courage and work by Human Rights First in New York.
Krekó is a social psychologist and political scientist and executive director of Political Capital, a research institute and consultancy in Budapest. He’s the author of a book on the Hungarian far right and another on fake news and conspiracy theories. Krekó slams the European Commission for going too easy on Budapest for too long.
Sargentini is a member of the European Parliament from the Netherlands who wrote a damning report last year on the erosion of democracy in Hungary. The report made Sargentini one of the prime foreign targets for Budapest’s smear campaigns. She says she can no longer visit Hungary.
“Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125” by Papalin is licensed under CC by 3.0. "Hungarian Rhapsody no. 2, S. 244-2” by Franz Liszt and played by Simone Renzi is licensed under CC by 3.0. “Airside No. 9” is played by Lara Natale.

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There are many things to love about France. But a stated policy of colour blindness is not one of them. Among those leading the charge against a French conception of universalism that makes discussing race so awkward is Grace Ly. Her Chinese Cambodian parents fled the Khmer Rouge during the late 1970s for France, where she has found success and celebrity with books like Jeune fille modèle and the podcast Kiffe Ta Race that she co-hosts with Rokhaya Diallo. The French still preach that everyone is equal in the eyes of the Republic, but Grace says the reality is very different. She cites a notorious incident where a former French interior minister, Brice Hortefeux, was caught saying in reference to immigrants of North African descent that, "when there is one it's OK,” but that, "when there are lots of them that there are problems." Grace is from an Asian European community that's often portrayed as a model minority. But she says that's a corrosive stereotype, and she too has to navigate double standards. "When I walk out in the streets, people see me, they actually see me very well because they still say ni hao to me, so they do see me. But it's what they want me to be. They want me to be invisible." Grace is in conversation with journalist and think tanker Shada Islam and commentator Helena Malikova.

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The European Union has embarked on a push against racism amid protests following the killing of George Floyd. But important questions remain about whether some EU leaders and policies, and the bloc’s broadly federalist priorities, are the best choices for achieving that goal. Mehreen Khan, EU correspondent for the Financial Times, assesses the anti-racism credentials of the European Commission under the leadership of President Ursula von der Leyen. “Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125” by Papalin is licensed under CC by 3.0. Wael Koudaih kindly contributed his track “Thawra” to this episode. You’ll find more of his music under the name Rayess Bek. Visit our website for episode art and for more EU Scream.

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Border violence. Hostage diplomacy. Vaccine purchases. Just some of the areas where opaqueness in EU decision-making can erode public trust and ultimately democracy. These also are areas where accountability journalism like freedom of information requests can help uncover undue influence by lobbies and foreign powers as well as abuses by security services. One of the highest profile cases of accountability journalism in Europe to date is the decision by The New York Times to sue the European Commission for access to phone messages — messages in which the Commission's president, Ursula von der Leyen, and the chief executive of Pfizer, Albert Bourla, reportedly negotiated vaccine purchases during the Covid-19 pandemic. Matina Stevis, the outgoing Brussels bureau chief for the Times, who is part of that lawsuit, says such scrutiny would be comparatively banal in jurisdictions like the US where news media and government regularly wrangle in court over the line between an executive's ability to govern and the public's right to know. But in the EU such scrutiny still can arouse accusations of euroscepticism and even sympathies with Brexit. Matina says the EU's accountability muscles need "deepening and flexing and exercising" but she also suggests reporters working EU corridors may need to do more to avoid "falling into the traps of access journalism" and "going, going softly so that people keep answering their phones when you call." Also in this episode, the pros and cons of reporting on the case of Johan Floderus, the EU official recently released from captivity in Iran. And a hard and harrowing look at the evidence of deadly actions by the Greek coastguard toward migrants on the Mediterranean Sea — and at the half-hearted attempts by Brussels to rein in such abuses amid tectonic shifts in refugee law and policy. These include calls for the so-called externalization of migration where refugees and asylum seekers must have their applications to enter the EU assessed offshore in countries like Albania or even Rwanda. Such shifts also entail discussions on reforming and even abandoning the 1951 Refugee Convention that was a key plank of postwar humanitarianism.

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Margrethe Vestager is the European Union antitrust enforcer who's earned global recognition for pushing Silicon Valley giants like Apple, Google and Facebook to treat consumers and competitors fairly.
Last month she put herself in the running to succeed Jean-Claude Juncker as president of the European Commission. That makes her a Spitzenkandidat, a German word that is EU jargon for being one of the lead candidates for Mr. Juncker’s job.
This conversation with Vestager is from an edited recording of a live event that was held on April 2 and organised by Res Publica Europa, a group of EU officials venturing beyond their civil service day jobs to defend the EU project.
Follow Res Publica Europe on Twitter.

The discussion was a chance to push Vestager for her stance on topics that are cornerstones of a progressive agenda such as climate protection, the rise of far-right nationalism, the power of social media platforms and tax justice.
It also was an opportunity to hear about some of her other preferences. The Beatles versus The Rolling Stones, for starters.
Please visit our website for episode art and for more about EU Scream.

“Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125” by Papalin is licensed under CC by 3.0. “Airside No. 9” is played by Lara Natale.

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