Repair, not revenge in post-autocratic Hungary

In countries with eroding democracies, many people have watched Hungary over the past three months make rapid reforms under a new prime minister, Péter Magyar. In April, he and his center-right Tisza party won a landslide election victory that ousted Viktor Orbán. The pro-Russia conservative leader ruled for 20 years in total, leaving a web of corrupt cronyism in highly compromised state institutions.Mr. Magyar’s reforms have so far required a nuanced distinction between seeking personal retribution for the closest supporters of Mr. Orbán and merely holding them accountable for misdeeds. “One thing we ... cannot do,” said András Baka, a former head of the Supreme Court who took over the largely ceremonial position of president this month, is “build the new Hungary on revenge.”One liberal newspaper, HVG, noted that Mr. Magyar’s supporters are “noticeably impatient” and that “their demand for accountability is by no means free from a desire for revenge.”For his part, Mr. Magyar speaks mainly about “total regime change” and a restoration of democratic norms and clean governance. Yet on his preferred means of public communication – Facebook – he often mentions Mr. Orbán and his “affiliates” within the now-diminished Fidesz, the former governing party.Several countries in Europe have set models for rehabilitating a democracy with fair and judicial retribution against former officials deemed accountable for wrongdoing. Postwar Germany ran a denazification program, for example, while recent elections in Ukraine ousted corrupt, pro-Moscow leaders. In Poland, however, Prime Minister Donald Tusk has lately been stymied in his reforms by a far-right president despite winning an election.For now, Hungary’s record of reforms appears to have pleased the European Union, which has released some of the money withheld because of Mr. Orbán’s erosion of the rule of law. The reforms include new drives against corruption, biased public media, and a politicized judiciary.Rule of law under a fair democracy is indeed a check on political revenge. Or as President Baka said, “Violations of the law must be uncovered, but it is for the courts to determine guilt.”