Viktor Orban, Hungary’s Prime Minister announced Tuesday, that the country had been declared under emergency state, in the light of the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine. This measure had been approved by the parliament as an alternative to Budapest for responding to the situation.
The announcement was made by a video-addressing on his Facebook account. According to the statement made by the Prime Minister, the emergency state will be effective from midnight. The first measure concerning this emergency regime will be released on Wednesday.
“To safeguard Hungary’s national security interests, to make sure we stay out of the war, and to protect Hungarian families, the government needs room to maneuver and the ability to act immediately,” said Orban during the video-addressing.
Earlier in the day, the Hungarian parliament issued a constitutional amendment granting the Prime Minister the authority to rule a state of emergency across the country, should there is a war or humanitarian disaster in a neighboring country, despite the current crisis categories. According to the critics of the Prime Minister, this amendment would allow Orban to “rule by decree” and bypass parliament.
Back in March 2020, similar criticism was issued as PM Orban was granted sweeping emergency powers by the parliament in order to face the COVID-19.
