There is a very common misconception in the West that Fidesz is somehow the lesser of two evils when it comes to the Hungarian right and the rising fortunes of the far-right Jobbik. Nothing could be further from the truth. For Fidesz, the only thing that counts is political expediency. To some extent, being effective politically, and thus being ideologically flexible enough to appropriate popular topics seen as attracting voters, is important to any political party. But Fidesz is unique in that it has absolutely no coherent ideology whatsoever and key strategists, like Gábor G. Fodor of the government think tank Századvég, have confirmed the undiluted Machiavellian approach that characterizes Fidesz.
With Fidesz, absolutely everything is merely a “political product”–to use Mr. Fodor’s words. When the government’s consulates and embassies– from the mission in New York City to Toronto and Ottawa–host Holocaust remembrances and commemorations on behalf of the Orbán government, in the year that Hungary assumes the chairmanship of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, they are providing a political product.
Less than a week after remembering the ingrained racism that led to the deaths of 600,000 Hungarian Jews and the deportation of over 30,000 Roma, the Orbán government launched a “national consultation” that is the most callous example of pandering to xenophobia that I have seen in a very long time.
Here are some of the loaded questions that the Hungarian government is asking its citizens, in English translation:
- Some people believe that the mishandling of immigration issues in Brussels and the spread of terrorism are connected. Do you agree with this opinion?
- Did you know that economic migrants are crossing the Hungarian border illegally, and that the number of immigrants in Hungary has increased twenty-fold?
- One can hear many opinions about the question of immigration. Some people say that immigrants threaten the jobs and livelihood of Hungarians. Do you agree?
- Would you support the Hungarian government, if it introduced stricter immigration regulations, in spite of the leniency in Brussels?
- Do you agree with the Hungarian government, that instead of immigration, we need to support Hungarian families, and the children to be born in the future?
Not a single of the questions on the survey even remotely entertain the idea that some Hungarians may take a more tolerant or compassionate view of immigrants. Every single question overtly panders to the worst prejudices in society. To make matters worse, Zoltán Kovács, the government spokesperson in charge of presenting this “national consultation,” noted that the survey was especially important in light of the death of 900 migrants, when their boat capsized this week in the Mediterranean, in the worst migrant disaster in the region’s history. The Orbán government’s response to this tragedy is to circulate a virulently xenophobic national survey.
It goes without saying, that this survey is remarkably shameful, especially in light of the fact that immigration and Hungarian history are closely intertwined, starting in the late 19th century and especially in the 20th century. Hungarian Canadians established their first settlements in Canada in 1886, with the village of Kaposvár (in today’s Saskatchewan) and then the nearby town of Esterhazy. The first Hungarian Canadian settlers suffered systemic discrimination and prejudice, along with all other immigrants who did not hail from northwestern Europe, often at the hands of federal authorities. (See Robert England’s The Central European Immigrant in Canada, published in 1929.) The Orbán government in 2015 is spreading this same type of prejudice and is stoking the fears of the local population against “the other.”
Following its loss to Jobbik in the Tapolca by-election, Fidesz is clearly trying to shore up its support among hard-line, racist right-wing voters. One night, it will remember victims of antisemitism during the Holocaust. The next morning it will reinforce in citizens that “liberal” immigration policies are leading to the spread of terrorism, and that hoards of foreigners have descended upon Hungary and are threatening the livelihoods of ordinary, decent Hungarians. “The other” is dangerous and he/she/it is directly threatening you and your children.
Fidesz is Jobbik in disguise.