Hungary’s Orbán is far more dangerous than Jobbik or any other extreme right movement

Dutch political scientist Cas Mudde, the author of Racist Extremism in Central and Eastern Europe (Routledge, 2005), made a critically important point in an op-ed piece published Saturday in The Guardian. According to Professor Mudde, western journalists and activists who have been concerned primarily with, and focused almost exclusively on, the rise of the far-right Jobbik in Hungary have been wrong to ignore a much bigger threat, namely the populist, authoritarian politics of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

Prof. Cas writes:

“Misguided emphasis on the most extreme and photogenic radical right groups also plays out in Hungary. As the international media continues to give little or no attention to the increasingly radical right rhetoric of prime minister Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz party, they continue to publish alarmist articles and op-eds about the rise of the radical right Movement for a Better Hungary (Jobbik) – despite the fact that Fidesz probably has a more radical discourse (though not ideology) than Jobbik.”

Professor Cas correctly points out that whether Mr. Orbán actually buys into his own nationalistic, nativist rhetoric is ultimately unimportant, as he has managed to turn Fidesz, once a liberal, and then after 1994 a generally moderate conservative party, into a force that can legislate and codify Jobbik-style racism and xenophobia from the corridors of political power. And much of the West is still successfully distracted by Jobbik, to bother to realize where the real threat lies.

Viktor Orbán in Tusnádfürdő (Băile Tuşnad), Romania.

Viktor Orbán in Tusnádfürdő (Băile Tuşnad), Romania.

“Mr. Orbán doesn’t just warn about ‘the survival or disappearance of European values and nations’, he organises xenophobic referendum campaigns and builds walls on his borders – roughly 25 years after the Iron Curtain was lifted in, of all places, Hungary…Even more upsetting than Orbán’s increasingly radical right politics is the deafening silence from the rest of Europe…Even the usual suspects such as anti-racist organisations and the leftwing media, normally so quick to condemn racism and warn about the rise of fascism, have been sidetracked by lesser threats such as Jobbik and Pegida. But while they are fighting the radical right at the European margins, it is growing deep within the heart of the EU. It’s time to shift priorities,” concludes Professor Cas.

Concerns surrounding the treatment of the Roma in Hungary or xenophobia more generally (most recently directed primarily against Muslim refugees and migrants), should certainly be raised and addressed, but always within the overarching context of the demise of rule of law in the heart of Europe. And this collapse of constitutional democracy is quite simply not a result of Jobbik’s rhetoric, but a consequence of the actions of the Fidesz government over the past five years. This government is not only tolerated, but is ultimately embraced by the European People’s Party, and by several western governments, including–most shamefully–that of Canada.

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