A curious kind of political system has emerged in Europe, according to the European Union:

Hungary can no longer be considered a democracy, and European values are under systemic threat inthe country, the European Parliament declared in a report adopted on Thursday.

At this point, the report concluded, Hungary has become an “electoral autocracy.”

The motion — which passed with 433 votes in favor, 123 against and 28 abstentions — represents yet another symbolic reprimand from the EU institutions toward Hungary, which has faced years of opprobrium over rule-of-law concerns. But Parliament’s move is unlikely to lead to any specific punishment.

Hungarians can be a democracy if they vote the way Brussels likes -- but not otherwise. In the report is a lengthy reprimand of the Hungarian government for rejecting gender ideology instruction for children. Conservatives in this country need to be aware that any serious efforts to push back against the Left on cultural issues is going to be denounced as nascent fascism by both Washington and Brussels. The people can vote for a government, but if Brussels doesn't like the outcome, it's not democratic.

We're going to see how much any of this matters in a few months. I was talking not long ago to a Hungarian friend who voted for the hapless opposition in this spring's election (which the OSCE observed, and found no fraud), because he thought that the Fidesz party had been in power for too long. But he said that with the catastrophic winter coming, he is glad that Viktor Orban is in charge. I wonder how happy western Europeans are going to be with their leaders, who got them into this energy apocalypse with Russia.