Liberal U.S. mayors team up with European counterparts to fight authoritarianism

Right-wing populists in the U.S. have built transatlantic political ties for years. Ten mayors from liberal U.S. cities joined the Pact of Free Cities to connect with European counterparts and exchange strategies for defending democracy and fighting authoritarianism. The cities participated virtually or in person at the pact’s annual meeting in Bratislava, Slovakia. The pact was founded in 2019 by mayors of Bratislava, Budapest, Prague, and Warsaw to support progressive values and address hostile national governments. Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony shared lessons from Viktor Orban’s recent defeat, describing an authoritarian playbook that has influenced efforts to weaken checks and balances. A key turning point involved a government attempt to ban Budapest’s Pride parade, which the city countered by taking over the event and reframing it beyond LGBTQ rights.

"Right-wing populists in the U.S. have been building political ties across the Atlantic Ocean for years to support and learn from one another. Think President Trump, who developed a close relationship with former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Now, 10 U.S. mayors from liberal cities are following suit, joining a group called the Pact of Free Cities, where they can share strategies with their European counterparts on how to defend democracy and fight authoritarianism."

"The American cities, including Boston, Chicago, San Antonio and Cincinnati, joined the pact virtually or in person last week for its annual meeting in Bratislava, Slovakia. "I've joined the Pact of Free Cities because of the actions of the Trump administration that continue to not just have democratic institutions and democratic values backslide in our country, but also the destruction of long-standing relationships all over the world, but particularly with our European counterparts," said Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval."

"The mayors of Bratislava, Budapest, Prague and Warsaw founded the group in 2019 to stand up for progressive values and brainstorm on how to deal with what they see as hostile national governments. How to defeat a right-wing populist At last week's meeting, Gergely Karacsony, the mayor of Budapest, shared lessons from the recent defeat of Orban, who many political analysts say developed an authoritarian playbook that has informed some of Trump's efforts to undermine the U.S. system of checks and balances."

"Karacsony said one of the turning points came last year when the Hungarian government tried to ban the annual Pride parade in Budapest. "This was meant partly to intimidate people and partly to provoke a debate that would divert political discussion away from economic problems toward symbolic issues," Karacsony said. Instead of engaging with Orban's government over LGBTQ rights, Karacsony said the city took over the parade and made it about something bigger: t"

Read at www.npr.org