1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
In focus
ChristmasSyriaGerman election 2025
Latest audioLatest videos
Live TV
Politics

Hello, Dictator

July 1, 2021

In the EU, a battle over power and money is raging. Since the summer of 2020, a majority of EU states have been pushing to attach conditions to the allocation of EU funds.

https://p.dw.com/p/3vs06
EU-Sondergipfel in Brüssel
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/G. von der Hasselt

So that only those countries that adhere to democratic practices receive funds.

The rule-of-law mechanism allows for EU financial support only if there is democratic fair play by member states. So far so good. But Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is aggressively challenging that.

Brüssel Angela Merkel und Viktor Orban
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Xinhua/Ye Pingfan

In "Hello, Dictator," Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn calls Hungary a "shackled democracy." Indeed, in one fell swoop, Orbán was able to plunge the EU into crisis - a crisis that was eventually mediated by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Was that a case of appeasing an autocrat? Director Michael Wech travels across Europe to analyze the situation.

Broadcasting Hours: 

DW English

THU 26.08.2021 – 01:15 UTC
THU 26.08.2021 – 04:15 UTC
FRI 27.08.2021 – 09:15 UTC
SAT 28.08.2021 – 19:15 UTC
SUN 29.08.2021 – 02:15 UTC

Cape Town UTC +2 | Delhi UTC +5,5 | Hong Kong UTC +8
Lagos UTC +1 | Cape Town UTC +2 | Nairobi UTC +3 
San Francisco UTC -7 | Edmonton UTC -6 | New York UTC -4
London UTC +1 | Berlin UTC +2 | Moscow UTC +3

DW Deutsch+

FRI 27.08.2021 – 09:15 UTC

Vancouver UTC -7 | New York UTC -4 | Sao Paulo UTC -3