This is a fair question and it is a complicated situation. Personally, I do not think democracies & theocracies (for example, not saying Hungary is a theocracy by any means) are morally equal and the only differences being cultural relative: I think democracy is a better form of government and theocracy is worse. I could certainly be wrong, but that's my view.
It certainly would not be democratic to have a supranational body override the will of the Hungarian people but I think there's a couple of points missing here: 1. does Index being disrupted by its owners in such a way that the editorial board and 70 staff members resign in protest really reflect 'the will of the people'? 2. EU does not have the right to dictate to Hungary what to do but it does have the right to take its ball and go home. If Hungary's values are not in line with the values of the EU, the latter has every right (and duty) to invite them to leave the union and forgo the benefits of membership that Hungary currently enjoys.
So I agree you're right about "let's force Hungary not to do this" to be something of an authoritarian knee-jerk reaction, but EU membership is a two-way street: you get and you give, so not all requests to "give" or "conform to EU values" are authoritarianism, that's just a part of belonging to a collective.
It certainly would not be democratic to have a supranational body override the will of the Hungarian people but I think there's a couple of points missing here: 1. does Index being disrupted by its owners in such a way that the editorial board and 70 staff members resign in protest really reflect 'the will of the people'? 2. EU does not have the right to dictate to Hungary what to do but it does have the right to take its ball and go home. If Hungary's values are not in line with the values of the EU, the latter has every right (and duty) to invite them to leave the union and forgo the benefits of membership that Hungary currently enjoys.
So I agree you're right about "let's force Hungary not to do this" to be something of an authoritarian knee-jerk reaction, but EU membership is a two-way street: you get and you give, so not all requests to "give" or "conform to EU values" are authoritarianism, that's just a part of belonging to a collective.