(Bloomberg) -- An unconventional call by the speaker of the Czech parliament for a change of power in Hungary has provoked a fierce debate over political intervention in another European Union member state.
Marketa Pekarova Adamova, who took office as head of the Czech lower house two months ago, called for the ouster of Prime Minister Viktor Orban in a Jan. 8 Facebook post.
The Czech politician's call was explicit: Hungarians should follow the example of Czech voters' October decision to unseat billionaire Andrej Babis, who shared some of Orban's anti-immigrant and eurosceptic attitudes. The Hungarian leader has spent over a decade consolidating power as he draws criticism for eroding democratic norms.
“The Czechs have already expelled Babis. I strongly hope that Hungarians will also succeed,” Pekarova Adamova, the leader of one of the five parties that make up the new center-right coalition under Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, said in the post.
“It is important for the Czech Republic for Hungary to vote for change in April elections - just like us,” she added.
The appeal to voters of an allied nation drew sharp criticism from across the political spectrum, with some opposition leaders calling for her resignation. President Milos Zeman's spokesman on Twitter said that, “as a citizen of the Czech Republic,” he apologized to Orban.
Hungarians go to polls this spring in the most-watched election of the decade, with Orban's Fidesz party in a tight race with an opposition that has united behind a single candidate to challenge him.
The Czech government takes over the EU's rotating presidency in July as the bloc seeks ways to punish Hungary and Poland for their democratic backsliding. The new administration has signaled it wants to shy away from Poland and Hungary in their battle with the EU.
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