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After the media, justice or academia, the Hungarian President, Viktor Orban decided to attack the independence of a new Hungarian institution: the theater. A law on culture was adopted this Thursday, December 12 by the Parliament.
From our correspondent in Budapest, Florence Labruyère
Thousands of Budapesters took to the streets last Monday to protest what they see as the government's grip on culture . The text adopted Thursday by the party of Viktor Orban, which has a two-thirds majority of the seats in the Hungarian Parliament, has however been revised downward. Some provisions have been removed from the final draft.
A step back
The government of Viktor Orban has taken a step back. In the law passed Thursday, there is no longer any question that the state cuts food to independent artistic companies, or puts literary publishers under guardianship, as provided for in the initial bill.
If the government changed the law, it was because it caused discontent on its own side. The Hungarian Academy of Arts, an institution filled with the faithful of Viktor Orban and the director of the national theater, close to Prime Minister Attila Vidnyanszky, would have opposed the law.
Nevertheless, the adopted text is worrying . In Hungary, the majority of theaters belong to the municipalities. According to the law, they can continue to receive subsidies for the latter in exchange for a right of scrutiny of the State on the program and the choice of the director of the room. If the cities oppose, they will no longer have subsidies.
Orban's revenge ?
" The state finances institutions, it is normal for it to oversee their operations ," says Istvan Hollik, a government spokesman. According to many artists, the law would be a revenge of Viktor Orban against the mayors of opposition who won the municipal elections in a dozen cities.