Former Minister for Development Søren Pind (Lib) and EU expert and former Climate and Energy Minister Lykke Friis (Lib) have appealed to the European Union to act quickly against Hungary in connection with its new constitution and other laws that have taken effect in the country.

“Imagine a country in which the government increases the number of Supreme Court judges just so that it can get its own loyal judges in,” the two say in a joint appeal on Pol.dk.

“Judges are to be appointed by a government-controlled Board. The media cannot operate freely any more but must accept the control of a state certified media Czar,” the two say adding that freedom of religion is under pressure and the rights of homosexuals curbed.

“Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is systematically dismantling the division of power and basic principles of a constitutional state,” Pind and Friis say, adding that Europe now has an even more serious crisis than the debt crisis to handle – ‘a crisis of democracy’.

“If Hungary as the first EU member suddenly develops into an authoritarian country, the basic premises of the European Union are in danger,” they say.

The two call on the European Union to ‘reject Orbanistan’.

“For Denmark this should be a clear key cause . The Danish presidency and the Commission should be at the forefront of dismantling the Hungary crisis,” the two say adding that the Lisbon Treaty’s ‘democracy alarm’ - Article 7 - could be used which could cause Hungary to lose its voting rights.

“Otherwise 2012 risks developing into an annus horribilis that would overshadow even 2011,” the two say.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz Party won a two-thirds majority in the Hungarian Parliament in 2010 and is able to pass legislation and constitutional change at will.

The European Commission is due in Copenhagen to discuss, among other issues, that of Hungary next week.

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