Timothy Garton Ash (Hungary is dismantling democracy. The EU must act, 20 June) perhaps expresses more “élan” than “touché” in his sabre-waving, and simply doesn’t square with the reality of today’s Hungary.

Your correspondent frets over the freedom of the media in our country, yet I first read his article in our own domestic press. Stridently critical news portals in Hungary attract a larger daily readership. They also have a dominant audience share on TV, where some 71% of Hungarians get their information.

The governing parties have “effectively demolished the independence of the judiciary”, Garton Ash claims. In fact, Hungary’s reforms of the judiciary were thoroughly reviewed by the EU and the Venice Commission and all questions were resolved.

Garton Ash’s ideological convictions simply cannot explain what is happening in today’s Hungary. Facts like these defy them:

Voter participation in Hungary has been going up, not down. Since 2010, the number of marriages has gone up, number of divorces down, number of abortions down by nearly a third, birth rate up and rising, employment rate of women at an all-time high. Hungary’s GDP growth leads the EU today at over 5%. Unemployment has dropped to historic levels. Interest rates remain low, and real wages are growing. Hungarians who left following the 2008 financial crisis are now returning in far greater numbers.

Dr Zoltán Kovács

State secretary for international communication, cabinet office of the prime minister

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