European Union

Why this tragedy for Hungary shames all Europe

International — Opinion

Hungary took over the rolling six-month presidency of the European Union on January 1st. On the same day, its government introduced a new law severely restricting the freedom of the Hungarian media. This scandalous law of censorship is an outrageous attack on fundamental human rights and contravenes the very founding principles of the European Treaty, says Mediapart Editor-in-Chief Edwy Plenel. If the EU takes no action against Hungary, it will have betrayed its very reasons for being and, in the process, give a green light to the politics of authoritarianism now sweeping the continent.

The staggering public cost of rescuing Europe's banks

International

In what was a largely unreported announcement in Decemeber, the EU Commission revealed that more than 4.5 trillion euros of state aid was authorized to fund the rescue of Europe's financial sector since October 2008. More than 1.1 trillion euros was actually used in 2009. Analysis and comment by Martine Orange.