Balázs László is currently studying political science at Hungary’s Péter Pázmány Catholic University and he is also the president of the fledgling Alliance of Conservative Students (Konzervatív Hallgatók Szövetsége – KHSZ). The new organization and its leader have been given a surprising amount of national media attention in Hungary, despite having only organized two poorly attended lectures and having a mere 267 “likes” on the group’s Facebook page. Mr. László was interviewed by the pro-Fidesz Magyar Hírlap daily, as well as by Kossuth Radio. He will soon appear on the HírTV news channel, as well as on the RTL Klub television network. The group’s goals are defined rather succinctly on its Facebook page. Their motto is “conservative defence of the nation” and to “defend and represent the Christian and national preference in the world of higher education.” More specifically: the KHSZ believes that a “liberal dictatorship” dominates the academia in the West, and this is what they strive to avoid in Hungary.
The KHSZ is also deeply concerned when right-wingers in Hungary are “unfairly” labelled as Nazis and fascists. Unfortunately, Mr. László is not helping himself, nor his movement on this front. Mr. László actively participated in at least one openly Nazi and fascistic event. The sudden increased media attention around this new movement of young conservatives meant that some journalists decided to do a little digging. The Átlátszó website discovered that last October, during a commemoration of the 1956 Hungarian revolution, Mr. László participated in an event organized by Pax Hungarica, an openly Nazi group, which is the successor of the now defunct Blood and Honour association. Pax Hungarica makes no secret of the fact that it aims to continue the political and ideological heritage of interwar and World War II Hungarian fascists, most notably Ferenc Szálasi’s Arrow-Cross movement, also known as the Hungarist Movement. The Pax Hungarica’s October 2015 event featured a fascist guest speaker from Italy and Mr. László agreed to read the Hungarian translation of his speech, which focused on conspiracy theories surrounding the spread of “imperial communism” and how dark international financial interests are deliberately using the refugee and migrant crisis to destroy the national pride and identity of white Europeans.
Balázs László (left) during the Pax Hungarica event.
Mr. László clearly has no qualms about actively associating with Pax Hungarica, which defines its membership in the following manner:
“Only members of the Hungarian nation, as defined by the Hungarist understanding of national identity, and who are also practicing Christians, are at least 20 years of age and are committed to Hungarism can become a member…Every member becomes a part of the Hungarist community by taking the traditional Hungarist oath. No person can become a member of the Movement if even one of the following apply: he is a Gypsy, a Jew or is not of Caucasian origins…or if he participates in homosexual, anti-family or anti-life deviancy.”
Pax Hungarica defines Hungarism as “the Hungarian practice of National Socialism.” When Mr. László, an active participant of Nazi gatherings, bemoans how right-wingers who want nothing more than to be proud Hungarians and to practice their Christian faith are unjustly labelled as Nazis and fascists, I am reminded of the good old “duck test” form of abductive reasoning. In the words of American poet James Whitcomb Riley: “When I see a bird that walks like a duck and swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, I call that bird a duck.”
What do Hungarists want? — An illustration appearing on Pax Hungarica’s website.
Yet I have experienced multiple times how Hungarians loyal to the current government and who have explicitly associated with far-right, racist or antisemitic elements are genuinely perplexed and deeply indignant, when others suggest that they gravitate to fascistic or far-right views. Being an active participant in, and supporter of organizations or ventures, which allow for explicit racism does not, in their mind, give anyone license to suggest that the participant is perhaps a racist. Association with fascists and Nazis should have no consequence and should raise no questions. And if it does, especially by someone who lives outside of Hungary, then the next line of defence is to suggest that the foreign critic just doesn’t “understand” Hungarian reality…as if Hungary were an enigmatic place in a distant, parallel universe.
But as a political science student, it is fair to assume that Balázs László is perfectly aware of what Pax Hungarica and groups like Blood and Honour stand for. He was not a hapless participant, standing on the stage and using the microphone at a Nazi event. He certainly owes Hungarian conservatives who do not want to be associated with fascists and Nazis some answers.
