An alliance of liberal mayors in central Europe blazes a trail for others
The editorial board
The opposition mayors of, from left, Prague, Budapest, Bratislava and Warsaw have formed a liberal alliance © Szilard Koszticsak/AP
Once, national rulers feared being toppled by angry mobs wielding pitchforks. Today’s populist nationalist leaders face a different opposition — from urban populations who are often richer, more educated and more liberal than their town- and country-dwelling counterparts. Now, some capital cities are starting to organise.
The opposition mayors of Budapest, Warsaw, Prague and Bratislava this week signed a “Pact of Free Cities”. They pledged to oppose illiberal governments and promote “European values, democracy, openness and freedom” — as well as climate policy. Other cities are invited to join.
These capitals are liberal islands in the populist wave that has swept over central Europe. Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia have, to varying degrees, been taken over by national governments that stress identity politics and “Christian” values and stoke fears of migrants and minorities. Efforts by Hungary and Poland’s leaders to entrench themselves in power have sparked concerns over rule of law.
The mayors’ pact is a mirror of the intergovernmental “Visegrad four” group, which has often acted as an illiberal bloc within the EU, opposing policies such as migrant quotas and — recently, in Poland’s case — ambitious climate targets. It could help change the image of central European countries.
It also has potential practical consequences. The four municipal leaders are appealing to Brussels to bypass national governments and channel EU funds directly to cities, especially to support climate change and urban issues such as housing shortages. This, they note, could help avoid funds being funnelled to companies run by oligarchs close to populist leaders.
The mayors are pledging to promote grassroots democracy and form a “progressive network of dynamic cities and empowered citizens”. That network might yet extend to other big cities. In Hungary, opposition mayors are also uniting countrywide. After the opposition won control of 10 urban centres as well as Budapest in October elections, their mayors this month agreed a formal platform for co-operation.
Could this putative liberal cities’ alliance extend beyond central Europe? The divide between metropolitan populations in capitals and big cities and residents of smaller towns and villages is certainly an international phenomenon. The mayors’ actions resemble moves by municipal and state leaders in America to push ahead with action on carbon emissions despite president Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the US from the Paris climate accord.
In Britain, London and most other big cities voted to remain in the EU in the 2016 referendum — and Boris Johnson’s “Get Brexit Done” Conservatives performed poorly in the capital amid its landslide election victory last week.
In Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AKP was beaten this year in mayoral elections in Istanbul — the city that was Mr Erdogan’s political launch pad as mayor 25 years ago. Opposition candidate Ekrem Imamoglu’s victory was cited as an inspiration for October’s breakthrough by Budapest mayor Gergely Karacsony — a driving force in the central European capitals’ alliance.
A formal pact of progressive cities stretching across Europe and beyond seems far-fetched. But urban centres with similar values and problems can share knowledge. Mr Karacsony suggests they can be bridgeheads for democracy, and a “thorn in the eye of populism”. Hungary’s nationalist premier Viktor Orban has responded to opposition mayors’ victories by restricting the power of municipalities.
History suggests he and other populists should be wary of pushing back too hard against their urban metropolises.
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