The case of the Norway Grants and male entitlement

https://www.euronews.com/2021/07/23/norway-suspends-aid-to-hungary-over-who-should-control-funds-for-ngos 

 The story in short: the EEA and Norway Grants (financed by Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway to contribute to a more equal and greener Europe) planned to give 220 million Euro (77 billion HUF) to Hungary. However, instead of leaving it entirely to the Hungarian government who they allocate the money to, with respect to 9.6 million Euro, they wanted to take that decision out of the government's hands. (Mind you, they have good reasons for doing so; in the 2010s, the same government has repeatedly cracked down on NGOs receiving Norwegian grants, labeling them agents and spies, and making increasingly strict administrative and legal requirements they must comply with - clearly a revenge, as the list of recipients included human rights, anti-corruption and LGBTQ organizations. It is also well-known that much of the EU funding given to Hungary lands in the pockets of oligarchs, without contributing too much to civil society, something donors obviously wish to avoid.) The Hungarian government objected (they can't suffer any money not going to them, especially if it goes to organizations they have declared as enemies), and as no agreement was reached, so in line with a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the two parties in December 2020, the money was lost to Hungary. However, as mentioned above, the Hungarian government cannot suffer losing money. They have declared that Norway "owes" Hungary the 220 million Euro, and are considering legal steps, including taking Norway to the European Court of Justice (a weird one, given that Norway is not a Member State).

What I want to talk about now is not how the story will affect Hungarian civil society, what message it sends, or how Norway can get out of paying Hungary and still fulfill its contractual obligations (one tip: they could donate the money to European-level NGOs that have Hungarian members, such as ILGA Europe), but the shocking arrogance with which Prime Minister Orbán first refuses to make the compromise that would be the condition for the grant, then when the agreement fails on these grounds, holds the other party accountable. In other words: no matter what Hungary does, Norway "owes" it that money. And this is very similar to the attitude of male entitlement. This is when men take it for granted that women do all the housework for them, entertain them, subordinate themselves to them, and are outraged that the Norwegian (again Norway!) women's beach volleyball team plays in shorts instead of bikini bottoms (https://www.euronews.com/2021/07/26/good-on-ya-ladies-pink-will-pay-fines-for-handball-players-who-refused-bikini-bottoms) because these women "owe" them the sight of half-naked buttocks. And the male chauvinists who feel entitled to the services of women are often also ardent woman-haters and abuse the women who "serve" them verbally and often physically as well - just like Hungarian government party FIDESZ has verbally abused both the EU and Norway, which have devoted huge amounts of money to the country's development (I wouldn't say "contributed", as much of the money was not used for this purpose), ultimately accusing them of being agents of George Soros and thus part of a worldwide Jewish conspiracy to bring down Christian culture. They do not even see the contradiction between calling someone THE enemy and expecting them to do a service to Hungary. And this is because they have been used to this all their lives, receiving services from the women they treat as inferior, evil or just pure sex objects.

The EEA and Norway Grants are known to support civil society organizations that work for gender equality. In the eyes of FIDESZ, this is one reason they are "the enemy" and "should be stopped". (I expect to soon see "Let's Stop Norway!" posters on Hungarian billboards, similarly to the "Let's Stop Brussels!" one shown here.) After all, should women's situation improve, men would no longer receive all the services they would be entitled to. Therefore, they try to use the same sense of entitlement now to protect their "privileges" as men or as a Norway Grant recipient country - not realizing that neither of these is supposed to convey any privileges in the first place.