This hearing focused on recent constitutional changes to the Hungarian Constitution which has brought concerns from the United States and the European Union. Recently, Hungary has instituted sweeping and controversial changes to its constitutional framework, effectively remaking the country’s entire legal foundation. In addition to constitutional changes, there have been some bills passed without the proper democratic spirit and has brought concerns about the trajectory of democracy in that country. The witnesses raised the changes that have created the majority government into a nearly one-party rule structure and compared such actions to President Madison’s written exposé in the Federalist Papers number 47.
Members
Hon. Benjamin Cardin
Chairman
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
Hon. Chris Smith
Co-Chairman
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
Witnesses
Brent Hartley
Deputy Assistant Secretary For European and Eurasian Affairs
U.S. Department of State
Hon. Jozsef Szajer
Hungarian Member of the European Parliament
Fidesz-Hungarian Civic Union
Dr. Kim Lane Scheppele
Director
Program in Law and Public Affairs, Princeton University
Sylvana Habdank-Kolaczkowska
Director for Nations in Transit
Freedom House
Paul Shapiro
Director
Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
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