How Hungary’s Democratic Decline Challenges Europe: A Civil Society Perspective
Channel: Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, NUPI
Date: 23/04/2024

Delving into the latest developments surrounding the rule of law, human rights, and civil society in Hungary, against the backdrop of the upcoming European Parliament elections and Hungary's EU Council presidency, the event will explore the challenges faced by civil society and independent media and the critical role they play in upholding these fundamental values.  The discussion will also focus on essential lessons for international actors, including the EU and Norway, in effectively supporting democracy, rule of law, and human rights. 

To talk about this topic, Marta Pardavi will visit NUPI on 23 April. Pardavi is co-chair of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, a leading human rights NGO based in Budapest, Hungary. A lawyer by training, she has recently been focusing on the threats to the rule of law and civil society space in Hungary and in the EU. She also co-leads the Recharging Advocacy for Rights in Europe (RARE) programme, which equips human rights defenders to build stronger organisations and alliances for joint action on civic space and rule of law in the EU. 

Márta serves on the boards of PILnet and the International Partnership for Human Rights and on the advisory board of the Re:constitution project. She has been awarded the 2018 William D. Zabel Human Rights Award from Human Rights First, Civil Rights Defender’s Civil Rights Defenders of the Year 2019 award and was chosen to be a member of POLITICO28 Class of 2019. In 2020/2021, she was a Policy Leader Fellow at the European University Institute’s School of Transnational Governance in Florence, Italy.

This event is part of the project Norway and the EU towards 2030.  It will be moderated by Christophe Hillion, Research Professor at NUPI and Professor of European law at the University of Oslo.