QuoVadis,
Hungariae:
Descent into
Authoritarianism,
or Just a Short
Episode of
Populism?
 “He is an economic populist who
carves out a strong role for the
state, and also a social conservative.
He invokes “Christian values,” and
makes clear his contempt for the
“corruption, sex and violence”
of Western societies. His contempt is
for “liberal elites,” the media and
greedy bankers. “In most European
countries — I could honestly say 90
percent of European countries —
there is a gap between the opinion of
the people and the policy pursued by
the elite,” he told Hungarian diplomats
recently.” (Copyright by Politico)
 https://www.politico.eu/list/politico-28/viktor-
orban/
 Orbán was elected PM in 1998, thus becoming the
youngest PM of HU in the 20th century
 His party FIDESZ (founded by the end of the 1980s; in
English: Alliance of Young Democrats) is national
conservative and right-wing populist and has dominated
politics since 2010
 In 2014 elections, the party had about 45% of vote and
has remained the most influential in the country
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vW4T918rfy4
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKIYXe8mga4
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp7-9Q_bMZM
 The party’s rise has followed an illiberal path (values)
that has seen an increase of authoritarian tendencies in
Hungarian society
 This particular uncivic increase has come in the time when
such illiberal perspectives may be witnessed all over
Europe and the US
 It was the immigration crisis, coupled with previous
financial turmoil and still still considerable differences
between old and new EU states, that has seen the rise of
anti-liberal discourses threatening Europe
 ““Hungarian democracy is imperiled,” he told me. “We’re
moving towards a Putinesque situation.” As Human Right
Watch’s Lydia Gall puts it: “What we’ve seen in the last six
years is essentially a continued undermining or
deterioration of the rule of law and human rights
protection.”” (Copyright by the Guardian)
 This has influenced further divisions in Hungarian society
and has produced tensions in this regard (as in many other
Central European states)
 Orban’s since been accused of masterminding this process
and weakening Hungarian democracy for his own benefit:
“In the current edition of the “Freedom in the World”
ranking by Freedom House, Hungary lags not only
behind its Visegrad neighbors (Poland, Czech Republic and
Slovakia) but also behind Bulgaria, Romania and Tunisia. ”
(Copyright by the Washington Post)
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkiCKljBxsk
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryBhrBLEXUs
 https://www.vox.com/world/2017/4/4/15164274/hungary-orban-
ceu-liberal-democracy-soros-protests
 Unfortunately, the decline of democracy has resulted in
fascist-like (far-right) politics being on the rise in the
country and in the region in general (Is this a world-wide trend
perhaps?)
 While claiming to be “defending national interests,”
returning to a “normal state,” “restoring the national
pride/undoing historical injustices,” and similar, these
groups/organizations/parties have become significant
(political) players in Central Europe
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4o5vY1A_ck
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxOKZ5sYW18
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryBhrBLEXUs
 Is there a way out of this “mess” in your opinion?
 If yes, what kind of a path should be followed in that
regard?
 If no, isn’t democracy at peril? Is Hungarian case, in
Trencsényi's words, “indicator of the direction
European political culture will take in the decades to
come”?
 https://www.vox.com/world/2017/4/4/15164274/
 hungary-orban-ceu-liberal-democracy-soros-protests
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ecNPAyff_4