Vera Jourova, the European Commission’s Czech Vice President launched a serious attack against Hungary this week. In an interview with Der Spiegel, Ms Jourova described Hungary as a “sick democracy”. The politician borrowed the popular term from organisations maintained by US stock market speculator George Soros’s money.
Vera Jourova, vice president for values and transparency, and also in charge of upholding the rule of law, was interviewed on 25 September by Der Spiegel magazine affiliated with the German Social Democratic Party (SDP). The Czech politician explained, amongst other things, that “democracy is disappearing in Hungary” and that “Hungary does not have an illiberal democracy, but a sick democracy.”
After some research it turns out that the term “sick democracy” may not be Ms Jourova’s brainchild as organisations close to George Soros also prefer to use it.
According to English language sites, Ms Jourova used the word “sick”, which suggests that the politician – who spent more than one month in pre-trial detention in the past – is unable to quote accurately even from propaganda leaflets that tend to use the word “ill”. Let’s, however, set all our prejudice aside and presume that the change of Ms Jourova’s choice of words occured during the German to English translation process.
In December 2017, a Norwegian organisation called Human Rights House Foundation published an analysis in several languages, discussing how illiberal governments are transforming countries, like Hungary and Poland, into “ill democracies”. Contributors to the report included organisations with close ties to George Soros, such as the Hungarian Helsinki Committee and the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union.
The Human Rights House is also a beneficiary of funds provided by George Soros’s Open Society Foundations (OSF). Their annual report shows that their revenue amounted to more than 2.5 million euros last year and they thanked Soros’s network for the support they provided. Their financial statements reveal that they received around 43 thousand euros.
The Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) also published a lengthy report on the ills of democracy last November. This organisation can also be linked to George Soros as it was granted 175 thousand dollars by OSF in 2017.