How The Hungarian Disease Is Spreading Across Central Europe

„The attitude of the European Commission (EC) and of the IMF is so far very surprising. It seems that the EC is applying double standards in direct interactions with the EU member states. On the one hand it has praised Latvia for raising the contributions to the funded pension pillar. On the other hand it is so far silent about the Polish government proposal to nationalize the private pension funds’ assets.

By its behavior of not raising red flags to the Polish government and stopping a second Hungary, the EC risks jeopardizing its role as a fiscal guardian.

There is a danger that this Orbanization of the pension system policies may spread all over Europe if not counteracted. The governments in Central Eastern Europe are under pressure to slow down fiscal consolidation or retreat to fiscal stimuli. The Hungary-Polish bad example risks giving more power and additional arguments to the populist voices in the region. This is why we have to stop the Polish government proposal now and defend the private pension savings of the people.”