Rejecting criticisms by the United States and the European Union, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is defending recent constitutional amendments despite concerns they will undermine democracy and the rule of law in Hungary.
The changes adopted earlier this week will lead to more restrictive laws on higher education and family rights, among other concerns, according to Human Rights Watch.
"This is the definite end of any constitutional oversight of the activity of the parliamentary majority," Gábor Halmai, director of the Institute of Political and International Studies at the Eotvos Lóránd Univerity in Budapest, Hungary, told Trend Lines in an email interview. "The government will be able to do whatever it wishes, without any concern of constitutional principles [or] rules."