Hungarian minister will govern for 6 more months due to conflict in Ukraine

Madrid. The Hungarian Parliament approved this Monday the extension of the state of emergency, declared in mid-2022 due to the “threat” of the war in Ukraine, allowing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Executive to govern by decree for six more months.

The extension went ahead with 130 votes in favor and 49 against and authorizes the Hungarian government to govern by decree and modify laws without the usual parliamentary procedures for another 180 days, until May 18, 2025, according to the local newspaper ‘Magyar Hírlap ‘.

For its defenders, the measure is necessary because “the armed conflict and humanitarian catastrophe on the territory of Ukraine and its consequences in Hungary, especially in the field of asylum, the economy and energy, have not changed recently.”

Although the governmental Fidesz currently has a two-thirds majority in the legislative chamber, the state of emergency allows the Executive to suspend the application of certain laws, deviate from legal provisions and take extraordinary measures, in a context of a struggle with the European Union on account of matters such as energy or border control.

Hungary has already been under states of emergency since the government declared it in 2016 due to the migrant crisis and, four years later, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In May 2022, Parliament approved a constitutional change to allow the emergency measure in the event that a neighboring country is immersed in a war.