Europe's 'political strongmen' accused of 'taking advantage' of #Coronavirus crisis

Political strongmen are trying to use the ongoing COVID-19 crisis to their political advantage, it has been claimed. The pandemic has claimed thousands of lives throughout Europe and the rest of the world and shows no sign of abating.

But, while the focus has understandably been on the health front and efforts to stem the spread of the disease, there is also mounting concern about the actions of some political leaders in Europe.

The fear is that several are trying to use the health crisis to further their own aims and, at the same time, crackdown on fundamental rights. Most recently, a letter was sent to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen concerning the adoption by the Polish Parliament of a new legal act allowing the country’s Prime Minister to dismiss at will members of the Social Dialogue Council during the Covid-19 pandemic. In the letter, BUSINESSEUROPE, the group representing Europe’s business community, calls upon the Commission to open a discussion with the Polish Government aiming at the immediate withdrawal of these new regulations”.

Meanwhile, on 30 March the Hungarian Parliament passed the Authorization Act which allows Viktor Orbán to rule by decree for an indefinite amount of time. The new plans would also see up to five years of imprisonment for those accused of spreading misinformation, as well as up to eight years for those found to be breaching the quarantine measures introduced as a means to stem the coronavirus outbreak in Hungary.

Moreover, by-elections and referendums can no longer be held in the country for as long as the state of emergency period is in effect. But, arguably the most blatant act of opportunism at a time of a global health crisis has taken place in another European country, also right in the EU’s backyard – Montenegro. Since the beginning of 2019 its long-time ruler Milo Djukanovic has been facing massive anti-government protests – of a scale barely seen in the past – which posed a real threat to his rule.

Tens of thousands of Montenegrins rallied across the small Adriatic Republic to protest against alleged high-level corruption, attacks on independent media and demands on Mr Djukanovic to step down. Balkan Insight, an investigative portal in south east Europe, reported last August that the rallies were sparked by allegations that one of the most powerful businessmen in the country, Dusko Knezevic (now believed to be in London) had reportedly been providing “secret cash to Djukanovic’s party DPS for the last 25 years”.

The website claimed this was allegedly used among other things to "purchase votes" during elections. Both Djukanovic and the DPS have strongly denied the allegations. According to The National Interest, an American bi-monthly conservative international affairs magazine, during last 30 years Milo Djukanovic has used other questionable means of electoral engineering to stay in power.

These tactics, allegedly, include "voter fraud, blackmail, demobilizing potential opposition voters, fear-mongering and threatening police violence". At least three times on the eve of elections there were so called “attacks on the state” or “coup attempts” that many believed to be staged to keep power for the incumbent using a state of emergency and panic. The claims are denied by Djukanovic.

As reported by Al Jazeera in March 2017, anti-corruption watchdogs are said to believe that up to 15 percent of votes in the October 2016 elections when DPS failed to get the majority in the Parliament, were “fraudulent." DPS denies doing anything wrong.

The Guardian newspaper, some years ago, also reported that Djukanovic was once implicated by Italy’s anti-mafia unit for a cigarette-smuggling ring,which - allegedly - laundered over $1 billion in profits. He was not charged, reportedly because of diplomatic immunity as a head of state. Once again, Djukanovic resolutely denies any wrongdoing. The protests have geared up in 2020 after Djukanovic signed a new “religion law” said to give the government control of hundreds of properties used by the Serbian Orthodox Church, the most trustful institution in the country according to public polls, as reported by the Centre for Democracy and Human Rights in December 2019.

Over 2/3 of Montenegrins declare themselves Orthodox and most of them are following the Serbian Orthodox Church. In January – March the protests have shaken all major Montenegro’s cities and several times have become violent with police firing tear gas and putting the incumbent's rule at risk. On March 13, the national coordination body for infectious diseases banned all public gatherings in Montenegro citing the fight against the spread of coronavirus. As reported by Balkan Insight, the opposition Democratic Front alliance has accused the government of abusing the coronavirus situation to act without democratic checks and balances, ignoring constitutional procedures and leaving parliament out of vital decision-making processes.

Unlike some EU countries, such as the UK, Montenegro has not yet declared a state of emergency and Democratic Front MP Branka Bosnjak insists that, as such, the country’s parliament must decide on all government measures. Bosnjak reportedly said, “The government is abusing the situation with the novel coronavirus to violate the constitution. Obviously they don’t want parliament sessions so the government can work without control.” Fresh concern was voiced after it was announced that a special working group will prepare a new set of economic measures for companies and citizens during the pandemic.

The opposition has now called on Prime Minister Dusko Markovic to ensure that any crisis-related economic measures are first put to parliament. Bosnjak added, “Since nobody has declared a state of emergency, we need a more active role for parliament. No country in the region has suspended parliament except Montenegro.” Deputy PM Milutin Simovic, however, says that the government must be allowed to make decisions without delay “as public health is more important”. To date, there are over 200 cases of COVID-19 infection in Montenegro, 6,262 people are being monitored and two people have died. According to experts, the health service was almost ruined since the separation from Serbia and is "on the brink" of collapse. In the past few weeks, some other leaders around the world have fallen back on some classic authoritarian moves: postponing elections, silencing the press, and detaining government critics.

Turkey’s interior minister, for instance, says 410 people have been arrested for making “provocative” social media posts about the coronavirus outbreak. What seems clear is that some governments will undoubtedly try to use the crisis as pretext to entrench their authority and curtail citizens’ rights.

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