President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20500
Washington, DC
October 10, 2014
Dear President Obama:
As Founders and Spokespersons of the Canadian civil rights organization, – The Canadian Hungarian Democratic Charter – we would like to take this opportunity to thank and to congratulate you and those in your Administration (in particular, Victoria Nuland, assistant undersecretary for European and Eurasian Affairs) for speaking out about the abuse, by some Central European governments, of the values that are the cornerstones of the trans-Atlantic community. Our civil-rights group, along with other politically non-partisan bodies in Hungary such as the Hungarian Europe Society and the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, have frequently spoken out about the Orbán government’s abuse of the rule of law, and civil liberties in Hungary. (see for example, “Indictment” at www.hungariancharter.com) We applaud your leadership and attentiveness to what is an increasingly serious matter of concern to anyone who values civil liberties.
According to a recent proclamation of the European Commission, “The rule of law is the backbone of any modern constitutional democracy. It is one of the founding principles stemming from the common constitutional traditions of all the Member States of the EU and, as such, one of the main values upon which the Union is based… respect for the rule of law is a precondition for EU membership. Along with democracy and human rights, the rule of law is also one of the three pillars of the Council of Europe and is endorsed in the Preamble to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The confidence of all EU citizens and national authorities in the legal systems of all other Member States is vital for the functioning of the whole EU as “an area of freedom, security and justice without internal frontiers.”
The abuse of the rule of law, by the Orbán government is well documented. His defiant “illiberal turn” away from our common values is deliberate, and premeditated. It is based on a „harmony ideology” that the internationally respected anthropologist, Laura Nader has labeled a “concerted assault on Democracy”. Mr. Orbán has surrounded himself with advisors, such as Imre Kerényi, who advocates that Hungarians should listen to Iran and the radical Islamists who are the enemies of the trans-Atlantic community. Another close associate of Mr. Orbán, Zsolt Bayer, one of his Party’s founding members, and a government decorated organizer of the pro-government “Peace Rallies” that aim to intimidate the democratic opposition in Hungary, is on public record with the following Anti-Semitic slur: “The mere existence of Jewish journalists in Budapest is grounds enough for our anti-Semitism.” Not long ago, the Orbán government decorated another of its key propagandists, András Bencsik, the editor of a weekly that still celebrates the Hungarian troops who fought on the side of the Nazis until the dying days of WWII. Bencsik is one of the founders of the notorious Hungarian Guard militia that specializes in harassing Hungary’s Roma population. According to Mr. Bencsik, the agreement linking Hungary to Europe is like a plate of excrement. Instead of firing these people from his Party, or removing them from any position of influence, Mr. Orbán embraces their views and promotes them into his inner circle, providing them with vast powers to spread their toxic, anti-democratic, anti-European, and anti-American philosophies.
Dear Mr. President: As you know, we are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall this autumn. Yet there is a shadow hanging over the celebrations. There is a new, menacing specter haunting our cherished, hard won democracies. This time it’s not the specter of communism but the specter of predatory states and corrupt, self-serving rulers, who show no respect for the rule of law, for civil society, or for the dignity of their fellow human beings.
Mr. President: The Canadian Hungarian Democratic Charter applauds your leadership and courage in trying to help put the international democratic community’s house in order. It is tremendously encouraging to see you naming and shaming a rogue regime within Europe, a regime that willfully and systematically abuses values that are common to us all. While this is an excellent beginning, more needs to be done to maintain the confidence of Europe’s and North America’s citizens in the ability and will to sustain our democratic way of life. Rogue leaders like Mr. Orbán must be made to answer for their anti-democratic behavior. They should be kept at arms length, kept off the “guest list.” Their lobbyists in Washington, Ottawa and in Europe’s capitals should be carefully scrutinized. The financial and political privileges of member states that deliberately disregard their treaty obligations need to be curtailed. If they continue to violate the values that the democratic community has sworn to uphold, they should be sent packing. We encourage you to work with your other colleagues in the G8 community, with leaders of the EU, and with our own Prime Minister Stephen Harper, – to stamp out any and all efforts that threaten democratic governance and the rule of law within the trans-Atlantic community.
Yours sincerely,
Dr. András B. Göllner, Founder, International Spokesperson
Emeritus Associate Professor, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec
Dr. Christopher Adam, Founder and Spokesperson.
Lecturer, Department of History, Carleton University,Ottawa, Ont.
Dr. Stevan Harnad. Founder and Spokesperson.
Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Science at Univerité du Quebec á Montreal. QC
Dr. Imre Szeman, Founder and Spokesperson.
Canada Research Chair in Cultural Studies and Professor of English, Film Studies, and Sociology, University of Alberta.