The European Parliament condemns Hungary

SINCE coming to power in 2010, the government of Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, has consistently disdained judicial independence, academic and media freedoms, and the rights of migrants. It has, in the view of many people, run roughshod over some of the core values of the European Union. So far, the EU has done nothing to rein it in. But on September 11th Judith Sargentini, a Dutch MEP , made an attempt to do so, launching a detailed report that documents Mr Orban’s transgressions, from widespread corruption to the forced sterilisation of Roma women in the past. She took to the floor of the European Parliament and called on her colleagues to choose: “Will you ensure the value of this union is more than just words written on a piece of paper?”