A contest is under way for the future of Europe and the battle lines have been drawn. From the east, Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, is spearheading a popular revolt against the EU’s ancien régime. And in the west, France’s Emmanuel Macron is leading its defence. Ahead of next year’s European Parliament elections, the Hungarian has thrown down the gauntlet to his rival, who has responded in kind. “If they want to see me as their main opponent, they’re right,” Macron said in August.
This is an ideological war about the true nature of Europe. In one camp are the defenders of the old liberal order, who see themselves as the bearers of Europe’s Enlightenment legacy – its commitment to democracy, the rule of law, liberty and rights, rational enquiry, cosmopolitanism, the open society and economic freedom. They pride themselves in having successfully faced down the forces of prejudice, superstition and nationalist fervour, presiding over an unprecedented period of stability, freedom and prosperity since the end of the Second World War.
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