Introduction
When Julius Caesar and his troops crossed a shallow little stream, called the Rubicon, on January 10, 49 BC, they set the course of European history for centuries to come. The Rubicon was the official boundary between Italy and the province of Cisalpine Gaul. According to Italian law at the time, anyone who entered Italy at the head of an armed force, without the prior permission of the Roman Senate, was committing a capital offense. Caesar’s crossing of the Rubicon was tantamount to a declaration of war. It precipitated the Roman Civil War, a period of protracted violence, and resulted in the appointment of Caesar as dictator for life. The rest is history. The impact of Viktor Orbán’s re-election to a third term of office in Hungary, on April 8, 2018, will have an impact on world affairs not dissimilar from that, which followed from Caesar’s bravado two thousand years earlier.
Hungary today is a small Central European country of 9 million people, with a big chip on its shoulders. It’s sitting at the crossroads between the East and the West. A hundred years ago it was a co-equal partner in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, one of the world’s great powers at the time, geographically the second-largest and the third most populous in Europe. Today, it’s ruled by a strong-man, who cannot forget the past.
Hungary is the place where WWI started, when a lone gunman in Sarajevo shot dead the next emperor to be, Franz Ferdinand. Hungary has also the distinction of introducing the first anti-Jewish laws in Europe during the 20th century, in June 1920, well before Hitler came to power. That “small step” for Hungary in 1920, and the success of the so-called „White Terror” instituted by Admiral Horthy during the same year, was the „booster shot” that emboldened the fascists in Austria and Germany, and started the world onto a path that ended in the loss of more than 100 million lives during WWII. (The number includes the brutal murder of 6 million Jews, whose only crime was that they were non-Christian immigrants.)
One of Orbán’s favorite Hungarian authors, Nazi sympathiser and convicted war criminal, Albert Wass, depicted the migrant Jews as rats to be exterminated. (For a reading of this “children’s story” by Wass, please see this You Tube video.) Another one of his heroes, Catholic Bishop Ottokár Prohászka, published a pamphlet in 1920, that was translated into most European languages, including German in 1920, and is entitled On the Jewish Question. Prohászka’s pamphlet was bedtime reading for Hitler. The Hungarian bishop depicted the Jew as a vermin to be exterminated, because it’s hell bent on destroying Christian civilization. Under Orbán, Hungary’s countryside has become littered with memorials to the founder of modern day Hungarian anti-Semitism. (For those who are interested to know a bit more about Orbán and the Jews, perhaps my own study will be of some help). According to one of his recent comments, Orbán considers Admiral Horthy, the man who joined Hitler as an ally, who mobilized an army of close to 400,000 against the allies in WWII, who declared war on America, and shipped close to 500,000 Hungarian Jews to the gas chambers, as a great statesman in whose steps he would like to follow. (See this Index article.)
Orbán’s latest electoral victory poses a serious new threat to Hungary’s fragile and fragmented democratic forces – he promised his supporters a few weeks ago, that “we will seek moral, legal and political recourse after the elections, we have a list of two thousand names” (See: Wiener Zeitung, March 22, 2018 here.) More significantly, he is now even more firmly positioned to rattle the very foundations of the post-World War II international order. All those governments, that committed themselves to upholding the rule of law, after the destructive forces of Fascism, Nazism, and then Bolshevism passed over Europe, should fasten their seatbelts. When Gerald Knaus, chairman of the prestigious European Stability Initiative think tank stated recently, that Orbán is the most dangerous man in Europe today, he was not far off the mark. Before I turn to the analysis of Orbán’s obvious appeal with Hungary’s electorate, and the threat he poses to European security, some preliminary comments are in order.
Viktor Orbán on election night.
The Orbán phenomenon
Orbán, is recognized by most independent observers, as Putin’s Trojan horse within the Western alliance. Like his hero in Moscow, he also started his career climbing up the ladder of the communist hierarchy. His father was a Communist Party Secretary, Viktor was a Secretary of the Young Communist League. When Gorbachev pulled out the ladder under his feet, he turned to the language of liberalism, to bide his time.
Like his hero to the East, Orbán also amassed a vast personal fortune during the past eight years as Hungary’s PM, scattering his wealth in secret offshore bank accounts and with loyal cronies and friends in Hungary, so he would not appear to be too ostentatious. Much of this wealth is money stolen from the vast subsidies flowing through his office from EU headquarters. (See this HVG article.) Hungary is the only place in Europe where the billions of EU subsidies are funneled through the PMO. It is the only place in the West where the privatization of a bank is handled in the Prime Minister’s Office. Orbán is the living testimony to the adage, that the best way to rob a bank is to own one. According to recent reports, Hungary’s Foreign Trade bank, the one Orbán privatized recently, was the vehicle for laundering the billions of Euros skimmed off European grants by his office. (On the corrupt procedures used by the Orbán government to privatize the Hungarian Foreign Trade Bank, see Magyar Narancs. On the manner this bank then laundered the stolen billions from EU citizens, see Magyar Nemzet. On the report, recently published in the US by the Frontiers of Freedom, which raises the sceptre of Orban being barred from entry into the US for reasons of participating in global money laundering, see 24.hu. According to the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), Hungary leads the way among the EU’s 28 member states in defrauding European taxpayers of their hard earned cash.
Like Putin, Orbán also surrounds himself with members of the former Communist secret services, and has enabled Russia’s military intelligence to relocate from Sofia to Budapest, by selling them residency permits and Hungarian, i.e. globally valid EU passports. It may not be a fantasy to suggest, that the folks who poisoned Sergei Skripal and his daughter on a park bench in the UK, slipped in and out of that country on a Hungarian passport. Many of Putin’s oligarchs are doing the same thing, flying in and out of La Guardia airport on their private jets, holding EU passports they purchased for 300,000 Euros a pop from Orbán’s cronies, such as István Töröcskei, who also became famously rich through his association with Orbán. Only a few weeks ago, it was revealed by investigative journalists in Budapest, that a number of terrorists and criminals on the FBI’s most wanted list have been given EU passports by Hungary. (See this 444.hu article.)
Orbán publicly idolizes the Russian, Chinese and Turkish “model” of governance, where transparency, checks and balances on centralized power have been eliminated. According to the last survey by Freedom House, the Orbán government engineered the sharpest retreat from the principles of Democratic governance among members of the EU. In fact, he is the political trailblazer for all of Europe’s neo-fascist political leaders. Many of them, like Holland’s Geert Wilders, have a residence in Hungary, in order to be closer to their “Messiah.” Sweden’s Kent Ekeroth has just announced he is looking for an apartment in Budapest. Neo-fascist parties sing Orbán’s praises in neighboring Poland, Austria, Slovakia, and now Italy. Orbán is the template for alt-right, white-supremacists in the United States, the UK, Germany, and Scandinavia.
Not only my own in depth reports (See: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3), but reports by The Atlantic Monthly, Politico, and a number of Hungarian language publications have also documented, that hundreds of American, European, pro-Russian white supremacists, many with close ties to Trump’s biggest sponsor, the father and daughter team of Robert and Rebekah Mercer, and to Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, holed up in Budapest while the last Presidential race was raging in the US. Under the protective umbrella of Orbán’s secret services, which, as pointed out, are thoroughly penetrated by the Russian GRU, these alt-right ex-pats actively participated in the Russian coordinated cyber-attacks that sought to undermine Hillary Clinton’s credibility during the Presidential race. Most were engaged in writing copy for the bot attacks, coordinated by Mercers’ Cambridge Analytica. (For an excellent review of the players within the US alt-right movement and their ties to the Mercers, and to Steve Bannon, please read Ben Schrekinger’s excellent piece in Politico. “The Alt-Right Comes to Washington”. January-February, 2017. Many of the people identified by Schrekinger were frequent flyers, or residents in Budapest, during the campaign.)
Many argue, based on Hungary’s GDP indicators for 2017, that none of the above matters if Hungary’s economy is growing at a good clip – or as Clinton’s hombre, James Carvile is frequently quoted to have said – it’s the economy stupid. Hungary’s economy had a reasonable year, largely due to Germany’s strong performance (car’s manufactured by German owned factories in Hungary are the engine of Hungary’s export driven economy) and because of the massive subsidies given to Hungary by the EU. Notwithstanding these two factors, the country’s overall economic performance under Orbán is worse than it was during the preceding decade (if we factor out the world recession that hit Hungary particularly hard in 2008). Hungary’s current economic performance is worse in fact, than the economic performance of all her surrounding neighbors. (See: HirTV report.) Two other analyses by the respected Hungarian economic journal, HVG, also paint the same picture. (See here and here.) The country’s best economists agree – without massive subsidies from Brussels, totalling more than 90% of the country’s annual state investments on economic development, the country would be flat broke. Orbán squandered most of his European subsidies on expensive sports facilities, grossly neglecting the country’s health and education sectors. Hungary’s performance in the realm of productivity, economic competitiveness, innovation is one of the lowest in Europe. The level of economic inequality is higher now than it was when he took over. According to OECD and EU figures, direct and indirect taxes take a bigger bite out of the wages of Hungarian workers than anywhere in Europe, and this is especially true in the case of those who are at the lowest end of the income scale. It is not a coincidence, that more than 600,000 people – roughly 15% of the able-bodied 21-45 year old cohort – left the country for Western Europe and North America since Orbán came to power in 2010. That is the largest exodus per capita among any central European nation, and is a greater exodus, than any experienced by Hungary for over a 100 years.
An election campaign built on fear
But let’s turn to the campaign that ended with Orbán’s return to power. He ran a campaign focused almost exclusively on the threat posed by immigration and refused to enter into debate with any of his opponents. Orbán is not only an opponent of illegal immigration but of any immigration whatsoever, because he sees that as a threat to Hungary’s ethnic purity. In a radio interview leading up to the campaign, he stated the following: “For my government, slowing down immigration is not enough: it must be stopped outright. To this end, we must build lines of defence; Hungary has set an example in this. And that is where we must stop – not just slow down, but stop – immigration”. In his final campaign speech on Friday, April 6, he was adamant. „If the levee breaks, if they open the borders, if migrants enter the country, there is no way back. They are going to take our country away from us.”
Canada’s Liberal Prime Minister should take note of what Orbán thinks of his creed: “Liberalism is an enemy of freedom, especially freedom of speech. Liberalism supresses all negative news associated with refugees or migrants. Liberals want to take in immigrants, thinking that it is a good thing.” The bogey man, “the evil Jew” who figured so prominently in the scaremongering of Albert Wass and the bishop Prohászka, this time around is the American-Hungarian Jew, multi billionaire George Soros. The wrath of Orbán’s entire campaign was targeted at this man, who is over 80 years old, lives in New York, established one of Hungary’s best universities on his own money, and gave more of his money than anyone in the world to better the life of ordinary Hungarians. Viktor Orbán himself was a beneficiary of his largesse, when he was down and out. He spent a semester at Oxford on Soros’s money, skipping most of his classes including his exams. During the campaign which ended with his victory, the Hungarian countryside was covered with giant billboards, showing a portrait of the “Jewish financier”, who is allegedly plotting to rob Hungarians of their birthright. By now, anyone inside or outside of Hungary, who opposes Orbán, is ipso facto an agent of “that Zionist financier, Soros.” This author, who never met nor corresponded with Soros is frequently portrayed by Orbán’s followers as such a man.
How could Orbán win a third term in office, when close to two thirds of his countrymen showed a preference for change in opinion polls taken prior to this weekend’s national elections? How could this member of the Euro-Atlantic Community so blatantly contravene the guidelines of the Global Magnitsky Act, and the rule of law, which are compulsory for all member states in the Western alliance? What is the secret of Viktor Orbán’s electoral successes?
The secret of Orbán’s political appeal
The answer to the question posed above, defies easy generalization, but three important factors stand out amongst many. The first one may be the hardest one to swallow for Liberals and people on the Left. The fact is, that liberals and social democrats throughout the Western world, and especially in Hungary, are failing miserably to manage the changes that are transforming the lives of people under their domains. While this should not come as a surprise to anyone who has read Karl Polanyi’s The Great Transformation (first published in 1944 by Farar and Rinehart) it must be repeated now: Liberals and social democrats, not only in Hungary but all over the western world, are simply unable to manage market forces that run roughshod over the weak, the downtrodden, and the poor. The marriage between capitalism and democracy, a marriage that was to last for ever, has broken down. (It was bound to fail, since it was based on a fairy tale to begin with.) Postcapitalism is wreaking havoc with the lives of hundreds of millions in Europe, North America, and those living on the territories of the former Soviet Empire. Democracy, and globalization didn’t bring affluence but distress to the people of Central Europe. Leaders like Orbán, or political neophytes like Donald Trump in the USA are winning by default, because of the incompetence of their liberal democratic opponents in managing change.
The second reason for the rising neo-fascist tide is grounded in the increasing rapidity of technological change. For a growing number of people, especially in Europe and North America, the world is less and less understandable, reality is increasingly difficult to comprehend by strictly rational means. The most dramatic changes are in the realm of information technology. Canada’s two communications giants, Marshall McLuhan and Harold Innis were right. The medium is the message. For hundreds of millions, the message today is Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. The form and content of modern information technologies are reshaping our minds, and who we are as a people. Just look around the next time you get into an elevator, a metro-car, or sit down for dinner with your children. People are no longer talking – they are texting. The entire transformation is driven by emotive rather than rational narratives, and subject to flagrant abuse.
Orbán, Trump, Putin, Steve Bannon, the leaders of ISIS, Xi jinping, Kim Jong-un, understand, and perhaps better than anyone, that the Homo sapiens masses prefer fictional, visceral language over factual discourse. One of America’s most successful political pranksters, Roger Stone, whose father happens to be a Hungarian (yes), provides the most succinct summary of this statement. For most people, according to Roger Stone, facts are simply boring. (Readers my wish to read Yuval Noah Harari’s scholarly proof of the veracity of Roger Stone’s political dictum.) Those who don’t want to listen to Roger Stone, or Harari, may want listen to Steve Bannon instead, before retiring for the night: “We’ll govern for 50 years. The Democrats have lost sight of what the world’s about. The media has no f***ing idea what’s going on. Donald communicates with people in a very visceral way.” (Michael Wolff, The Hollywood Reporter, November 18, 2016). Orbán, like his friend in the White House, owes his success to his refined use of the language of political deception, and his ability to build winning strategies on the basis of ignorance and our fear of the unknown. When he wants to get his way, he connects with people emotionally rather than rationally, largely ignoring, or distorting the increasingly impenetrable reality that surrounds us.
Orbán’s “visceral” language, is identical to the one used by Donald Trump. They both undermine the public’s capacity to distinguish reality from illusion, truth from fiction. It’s a language that is designed to ensure, that we all do as we’re told. (For those who may be interested in knowing more about how autocrats like Orbán use their tongue, their voice, to generate trust, loyalty and love, I recommend my own 5-part mini-series, that appeared on these pages in 2015 under the title of: RCA Viktor: His Master’s Voice. The ouverture to this series can be accessed by clicking on this URL.
It is the ability to manufacture messages that resonate with our emotions, the ability to combine these emotional messages with “fake news” – hearsay and innuendoes – and to transmit them through the internet, that is enabling a new breed of “political players”, to slip under the radar of rationality, and capture larger and larger shares of the public’s attention. It’s this uncanny “skill set”, exploited by Trump, by the Mullahs of Radical Islam, by the former KGB agent, Vladimir Putin and his Central European cohorts, like Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, along with the new crop of right wing neo-fascist “players” in Western Europe, that is taking humanity for a ride it shall never forget.
The third, and most commonly cited reason for Orbán’s victory is the one that emphasizes the Hungarian autocrat’s genius for political engineering. We’re told, that Orbán created an electoral system for Hungary that makes it virtually impossible to replace him via the ballot box. They add, that Orbán’s ability to cross the line separating democracy from autocracy is based on his knowledge, that the EU has no mechanisms to stop his traffic violations. My esteemed US academic colleague and friend, Kim Lane Scheppele, Laurence S. Rockefeller Professor of Sociology and International Affairs at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School, is an advocate of this third explanation. She read the tea leaves weeks before the polls closed in Hungary, and concluded that the race was over even before it started: “The government has fixed the rules of the game.. Only one political party could possibly win, and that’s the current governing party Fidesz. The EU can do nothing but watch.” (Please check out her interview with the Budapest Beacon’s reporter.)
If the EU is so inept at enforcing its “house rules”, perhaps the job should be given to her big brother, across the Atlantic? Couldn’t the White House do something about the abuse of constitutional democracy by a strategically located NATO ally right next to Russia? From what I alluded to earlier, the answer to the last question is not at all encouraging, to put it mildly. Orbán scored big, by “liking” “The Donald”, when he took on Hillary in 2016, and by sharing the same political advisors who catapulted Trump into the White House. While the European Parliament in a massive, but largely symbolic vote, censured the Hungarian autocrat last year for his systematic rule of law and human rights violations, Donald Trump warmly embraces the Hungarian autocrat because of his support during his own race to the White House.
Why is there so little news about the love-fest between the autocratic leader of a small Central European country and the leader of the so-called “Free World”? Mainstream American media’s obsession with Russia’s meddling in the last Presidential election, largely explains why so little attention has been paid to Hungary’s own efforts to tilt the scales in favor of Trump, during the 2016 election campaign. I have written extensively about this subject earlier. Those who are interested may follow my reasoning by clicking on the next three URLs (1, 2 and 3).
My views on Trump’s affinity with the Hungarian autocrat can be briefly summarized. As I’ve stated earlier, Orbán was the first and only EU leader to publicly endorse Trump in his fight against Hillary Clinton. Orbán sent his own Party’s pro-Russian, “Data Analytics Chief” – Gábor Kubatov – to the US during the campaign, to help discredit Hillary Clinton. Kubatov and his team were stationed, and not at all coincidentally, at the same place – Florida – where many of the 13 Russians indicted by Robert Mueller hung out. Kubatov’s operatives reportedly bunked with Marco Rubio’s team, who later complained that someone hacked into their computers. Wonder who that could have been? Maybe a 400 pound Hungarian who’d rather be called Zsa Zsa, than Gábor?
The Hungarian autocrat shares the unique distinction of being a hero to Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke as well as to the President of the United States. In a meeting with Hungary’s Ambassador to America, Trump reportedly hailed the Hungarian autocrat as a “strong and brave leader”. David Duke shouted „Viva Orbán” for what he sees as „The Hungarian leader’s successful resistance to the Zionist conspiracy to destroy European civilization.” Steve Bannon, Trumps chief campaign strategist, on a recent visit to Europe identified Orbán as his political hero. Jeff Session, who headed up Trump’s Foreign Policy and National Security Group during the campaign wrote this warm endorsement of Orbán during the home stretch of the American Presidential campaign: “Hungary serves now as a global beacon for the power of freedom, democracy and human rights.” Hallo? (Letter from Jeff Sessions to Hungary’s Ambassador, Réka Szemerkényi, on September 20, 2016.) J.D. Gordon, deputy to Sessions on the Foreign Policy Group, and the de facto boss of Carter Page, George Papadopoulos, and Joe Schmitz, took the first plane to Budapest after Trump was elected to the White House in November, 2016 to publicly thank Trump’s pro-Russian Hungarian backers with the following words: “The team of President Elect Donald Trump deeply admires Hungary’s leader. With Mr. Trump in the White House, a new chapter will begin in American-Hungarian relations. Mr. Trump and Mr. Orbán will become great friends.” (See: Mandiner.hu December 1, 2016; The Budapest Business Journal. December 2, 2016 and The Budapest Beacon. December 18, 2016.)
Sebastian Gorka, another ex-Hungarian Trump insider, is also well known to those Hungarian democrats, who saw their democracy hijacked by people close to the Trump organization. Gorka is well known for his extremist political activities in Hungary before he left and joined the Trump team. He too owes his meteoric rise in US Republican circles to his connections to the Mercers, to Steve Bannon and to the folks at Cambridge Analytica.
And who can forget Carter Page? The latter admitted during his Congressional hearings, that it was the Hungarian ambassador to Washington, who approached him at the Republican Convention, where J.D. Gordon was busy loosening the sanctions on Russia, to arrange a special visit for him to Budapest during the campaign. Page reluctantly admitted under questioning, that he met with senior Hungarian government officials who pressed him on Soviet-American relations. He also admitted, under prodding by Sen. Adam Schiff, top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, that there may have been some Russians in attendance at those meetings in Budapest. As to the substance of his conversations, or the people he met in Budapest, Carter Page could not elaborate, claiming a sudden loss of memory, brought on by all the media attention directed his way during the previous months. (See my take on this here.)
Trump’s affiliation with Orbán runs to a much deeper level, than where mainstream American media likes to descend. Trump’s favorite political trickster, Roger Stone, is a frequent flyer to the land of his ancestors, and is welcomed with open arms by the Hungarian autocrat whenever he comes calling. He and two other Trump associates, the late Arthur J. Finkelstein, and George Birnbaum, former cabinet secretary to Bibi Natenyahu, have played a critical role in Orbán’s rise to power in Hungary. Finkelstein, who spearheaded the Republican’s “Get Hillary Campaign” during the Democratic Senator’s race to be re-elected to the Senate in 2006, had an apartment in Budapest, which served as headquarters for his business ventures in the former Soviet Republics. Finkelstein served as Orbán’s chief political advisor for more than a decade, before his passing in 2017. He personally appointed many of his own associates to lucrative lobby contracts on behalf of Orbán in the US. (e.g. Jo Anne Barnhart, Connie Mack IV.) The „Orbán lobby” in America, is earning as well as spending millions to whitewash the Hungarian autocrat’s image in influential Republican circles. Trump’s pal, „Finkie”, – this is how Orbán referred to him affectionately – was mentor to many of the petty dictators who are now closely allied with Putin in the East. Finkie helped Paul Manafort to his illicit millions in Eastern Europe, before the latter joined Trump as campaign manager. Where Finkie or any of the American lobbyists he appointed for Orbán are keeping the millions given to them by their master is anybody’s guess. I guess, it is up to agents of the FARA to ascertain if they are following Paul Manafort’s steps or not. The sad fate of journalists, like that of the late Daphne Caruana in Malta, who dug too deep into such questions suggest, that the answers to questions in this domain should be left to those who are better able to defend themselves.
A final note on the Trump-Orbán love-fest: it is now public knowledge, that an old and very close friend of Trump and Finkelstein, New York jeweler and diamond dealer David Cornstein will be Trump’s Ambassador to Hungary (aka back channel to Putin’s Trojan horse) if and when he gets his clearance from Congress. How this 78 year old “cat”, with Hungarian ancestors, will perform in Budapest is not hard to imagine. Just weeks before this weekend’s national election, an unnamed member of Orbán’s cabinet let the cat out of the bag. At a recent meeting of his cabinet, Orbán apparently reassured his colleagues, that they need not worry what happens after he crosses the Rubicon on April 8: his three friends, Trump, Putin and Xi Jinping are fully behind him. Trump’s new ambassador to Budapest is the icing on the cake.
Conclusions
The victory of Hungary’s neo-fascist leader on April 8, the European Union’s inability to stop his troops from crossing into the mainstream, and the active encouragement given to the Hungarian autocrat by the current American president is opening up a new chapter in world affairs. Within Hungary, the frustration of the silent majority with a government that continues to rob the poor, to feed the rich, is at the breaking point. For now, Hungary’s ruling white supremacist minority is in the saddle. How much longer will this country’s silent, cowered, majority put up with those who hijacked the country’s democracy, and turned this country away from the path leading to justice, the rule of law, and sustainable economic development is hard to predict. One thing is certain – politics has taken a decided turn towards neo-fascist rule at a place, where East meets West.
The impact of Hungary’s “crossing of the Rubicon”, will have a dramatic impact on all member states in the Western alliance. Lenin’s quip, that capitalists will sell the rope with which their opponents will hang them appears to be coming true. The only difference is, the leading buyers today are not the Bolsheviks, but their neo-fascist relatives in cyber-arms. They are the ones preparing that hanging that Nobel Laureate Bob Dylan was singing about in his unforgettable Desolation Row. It is time for all democrats to ponder what happens when the cyber-medium becomes the message, what happens when politicians develop languages, expressly for the purpose of ensuring, that voters have “no f***ing idea what’s going on”.
András Göllner
Could have been said more temperately, yet alas largely true. (Brace for the Turul Troll frenzy…)
1) “Admiral Horthy, the man who joined Hitler as an ally, who mobilized an army of close to 400,000 against the allies in WWII, who declared war on America, and shipped close to 500,000 Hungarian Jews to the gas chambers, as a great statesman in whose steps he would like to follow. (See this Index article.)”
This statement is historically inaccurate. Most of the Jews in Hungary were sent to the extermination camps after Horthy was deposed in 1944. This along with other distortions make your article less than credible!
Should also mention that those 400,000 Hungarian soldiers mostly fought a leader that was at least as evil as Hitler.
2) “Liberalism is an enemy of freedom, especially freedom of speech.” On that one, Orban is increasingly correct!
Take the handling of the NYE attacks on 1,200 women in Germany, where the German national media was silent, in step with the authorities for four days, in early hopes that they could cover it up. Or take the Roterham grooming incidents where the authorities ignored the victims for years, allowing for 1,500 young girls to be abused for all those years, only because it was not PC to accuse the mostly Muslim men of the crime.
Or take university professors with tenure being persecuted for exercising free speech. In this case in regards to gay marriage. For the record, I support gay marriage. But I also suport free speech, and discussing gay marriage pro/con should be protected by free speech.
http://www.wisn.com/article/marquette-university-professor-suspended-for-something-written-in-blog/6324639
Liberals are increasingly bullying society into silence and it is producing real life victims, therefore it is a valid point that Orban is making.
For instance, I was censored on this site for using the term “Marxist”, while you freely label Hungary’s government as “neo=fascist”. I was also censored for many other absurd reasons, while I doubt anyone who tends to be ideologically correct on this site was ever met with such treatment. Liberals do have a tendency to oppose any speech that disagrees with them. This site holds true to such behavior, in effect helping to prove Orban right.
3) The rest of your argument, in regards to who supports Orban and so on, it is absurd to say the least! It goes without saying that pretty much everyone on the right, who opposes globalization and mass-colonization will suport Orban, including some very unsavory characters. But there are also people like the Dalai Lama who thinks that distinct local populations should have the right to say no to mass-colonization, therefore agrees with Orban. Just like this case, all the extreme left fanatics would have preferred to see Clinton in power over Trump. And let us face it, there are some unsavory characters on the extreme left. Like the antisemitic leftist crowd in Europe for instance. Did you know that 25% of all attacks on Jews in Sweden are carried out by the extreme left? 5% by the extreme right, and majority of attacks carried out by Muslims mostly settled in by the liberals.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/14/opinion/sweden-antisemitism-jews.html
BTW, you tried to connect Orban to antisemitism? Well, if I were a gay jew today, and if i’d be given a choice of walking down the streets of Malmo, Amsterdam or Budapest, holding hands with my partner and perhaps wearing some very visible Jewish symbols, in consideration of my own personal safety, I would choose Budapest, no contest! And who is responsible for the state of things in those West European towns? Is it not the liberal ideology in action? Are you not the ones who are gradually, and systematically turning all of Western Europe into an anti-Semitic, homophobic, misogynistic place? And all the while you proclaim yourselves to be the champions who want to protect those affected.
Finally, in regards to Hungary’s “silent majority” About 70% of the electorate showed up to vote. About half of them voted for Orban. Claiming a silent majority opposed to Orban is quite a stretch to say the least. You are basically assuming that the 30% who did not vote are in majority opposed to Orban. Generally, the majority of those who do not vote are mostly not at all interested in politics, therefore cannot be counted in the opposition or to be for the incumbent government. There are also those who are content with status quo who will not bother to vote when they know that incumbent is most likely to win. I doubt that there are many who would be very opposed to current government and will not even show up to cast a protest vote.
Peter, your comment on Horthy and the deportations is incorrect. Horthy was deposed on 15 October 1944. Hungarian Jews from throughout rural and small-town Hungary were deported under his watch. The deportation plans were put together under Prime Minister Sztójay, in March 1944, with the Final Solution in Hungary developed by László Baky and László Endre. Most deportations occurred between 15 May and 8 July 1944. A total of 430,000 Hungarian Jews were deported during this period–the largest deportation operation anywhere in Europe in such a short period of time.
Check your facts before you post incorrect information about Hungary’s history.
“By 1944, the Axis was losing the war, and the Red Army was at Hungary’s borders. Fearing that the Soviets would overrun the country, Kállay, with Horthy’s approval, put out numerous feelers to the Allies. He even promised to surrender unconditionally to them once they reached Hungarian territory. An enraged Hitler summoned Horthy to a conference in Klessheim (today in Austria). He pressured Horthy to make greater contributions to the war effort and again commanded him to assist in the killing of more of Hungary’s Jews.[citation needed] Horthy now permitted the deportation of a large number of Jews (the generally accepted figure is 100,000), but would not go further.[47]
The conference was a ruse. As Horthy was returning home on 19 March, the Wehrmacht invaded and occupied Hungary. Horthy was told he could only stay in office if he dismissed Kállay and appointed a new government that would fully cooperate with Hitler and his plenipotentiary in Budapest, Edmund Veesenmayer.”
Hard to claim that Horthy still had power to decide after March, 19. It is a forced claim to say the least, given the historical events I cited. Maybe officially he was not deposed yet, but in reality it clearly became the Germany show. Till that point Horthy actually resisted Hitler’s demands in this respect. I am not trying to whitewash the other aspects of his record, including towards Jews while he was in power. And I do not believe that he should have statues. But I do believe in being fair in interpretation of history, and I don’t think it is fair to claim that he had power to decide after the mentioned historical event.
Horthy was a war criminal who should have been hung with Szálasi. He aided and abetted the slaughter of innocent children, women, and men.
Like I said, not someone who should have statues in Hungary, but nevertheless what was claimed in article is historically incorrect. Horthy was no longer in control of events in Hungary once German army became an occupier. Certainly not enough power to stop the deportations. At the same time, there is ample evidence of Horthy opposing those deportations whenever he could. When judging history one has to be fair & impartial. I should also note that post war trials never had him indicted, so officially he was not a war criminal.
Horthy was a war criminal who should have been hung with Szálasi. He aided and abetted the slaughter of innocent children, women, and men..
You are spreading lies and I think it’s about time you were removed from this site.
Yes, everything you do not agree with is a “lie”, and anyone who is writing anything you do not agree with should be censored. Thank you for once more proving exactly what Orban claims about the liberal movement and its instinct to censor those they do not agree with.
You have written plenty of things that I disagree with and it only now I suggest you be removed from this site. At this point you have crossed a line by spreading lies about the Holocaust.
HFP has put up with your bigotry towards Muslims, and now you are spreading lies about Horthy and his role in the murder of Jews. You are posting revionist BS. You provide zero value to the disscourse on this site. You are a troll.
Under Hungary the removal of Jews was so efficient the Germans asked them to slow down. That was under Horthy’s watch. The number of Germans present was not enough to administer or impliment the removals at that high rate. It required the cooperation of the Hungarian government, military, and police forces. It’s BS to claim he was opposing the deportation before there was a potential cost from allied action against him and it was clear Germany was losing.
Boy, you really do need a reality check. I was simply stating some basic historical facts that one can find on Wikipedia. If you accuse me of spreading lies about the Holocaust, then you might as well go ahead and accuse the likes of Wikipedia of the same thing.
Your temperate approval of my intemperance warms the cockles of my heart, my dear Harnad 🙂 Indeed, the pronouncement from your little corner on the lily pad of academic esoteria (sic), that my humble assessment of the events shaping our world is “largely” true, almost made me run out naked into the streets of Little Italy, in praise of the Lord Almighty. Now that I have your blessing, the “frenzied trolls” will become putty in my hands. Blessed be thy name among the former corresponding members the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. 🙂
An exceptionally thorough analysis of the sad state of affairs. A most poignant assessment made however did not appear in the Conclusion, nor any possible remedy offered; namely that “leaders like….are winning by default because of the incompetence of their liberal democratic opponents in managing change.”
For the past 10 years Democrats have known of foreign (and cyber) meddling and have done nothing about it. For the past 2 years they and the liberal media have been obsessed with ad hominem attacks, but have offered absolutely no alternative policies to at least 1/2 of the national electorate. I like to sum up Obama’s/Hillary’s Legacy in one word; Trump. Re Canada’s liberal elites in managing change? Just keep an eye on Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. When will liberals start to become competent in considering the other half?
Mr.Hungarian Free Press is NOT totally correct.
He intended to forget serious facts,such a “Operation Margaret”. Horthy and Kallay were secretly planning to break away from German influence. Hitler’s inteligent learned about it. Hitler ordered Operation Marharet on March12,1944. Ordered (invited) Horthy to his command post in Saltzburg. While they argued, the german army invaded Hungary. Kept Horthy captive til March 18. Hoerthy arrived in Hungary and greeted by German occupation troops,and was informed to totally comply.
On Oct.15 he was taken prisoner and transported to Dahau. Szalasy put in charge. Than Eichman ordered the deportation of 550,000 Jews from the original Hungarian territories, now under German occupation. Wkipedia gives complete details. I suggest you to read.Horthy was a complete stooge, Stojai obeyed Hitler’s orders. After October ,Eichman put Szalasi in charge. I recommend John McCormick’s book (FDR’s ambassador 1033-41) “The Unwilling Ally”
Remember, “every coin has two sides, must look at both sides to learn it’s true value.” In history, need to learn all facts.
Mr.Lantos hit the nail on its head. Orban was not a “winner” because he was the best candidate, but because all the opponents were a lot worse. Just as in the USA. Not that Trump was a choice, but had to save the country from Hilary.
Great analysis! Very little to add and I love the Rubicon metaphor. One comment: I would wait a bit to have a final note on the “Trump-Orbán love-fest.” Trump is unpredictable and hates Bannon, Gorka… and Connie Mack, the Orbán cheering crowd in the US. I also want to think that Cornstein’s ambassadorship will turn out differently… Of course, this is wishful thinking… but I’d still wait with the “final note.”
EU Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans has made a thinly veiled threat towards Victor Orban’s new government.
Does that mean that the EU wants to invade Hungary? Should the Hungarian army be put on alert?
The EU has no independent military. I do recommend you see someone about your paranoia.
Has anyone in Europe threatened the Orban gang of thieves with “settling of the account”? Have they compiled the “list of the 2000” biggest thieves ?
The EU should “protect” their taxpayers from such robberies.
Why is the EU still only talking about the fascist regime building in Hungary? Why isn’t the EU “defending” the core principles of Copenhagen and many other agreements?
They should santcion the Orban regime with personal and economic measures on political grounds too.
Thanks for the laugh. Both Poland and Hungary are same national journey together. They have the same goals and same allie, being part of the same international organizations. There is no chance that Hungary under Orban will come into confrontation with the west unles the west itself comes into confrontation with Hungary. Namely Soros supported leaders who have a vendetta against Hungary. Soros is an evil
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I vote for sanctions against the fascists and for prosecution of the thieves. Cutting off the EU cohesion funds flowing into the pockets of the Orban Mafia is the minimum to start with. The extension of the jurisdiction of the EU prosecution office by majority vote in the EP next. And so on.
This is why the left keeps loosing! Since 2010 you were unable to formulate an opposition strategy without attacking Hungary’s interests. You call for cutting off cohesion funds? That is an attack on Hungary’s economy, and on the well-being of Hungarians, so there you go again, not only attacking Orban but also Hungary. Keep it up, because this way the left will get into government again, valamikor Majus Negyvenben.
Peter, presuming that you live in the diaspora and that you left Hungary at some point before 1989, would you also argue that all those Hungarian Canadians or Hungarian Americans who called for a boycott of Hungary and who fought to ensure that Canada did not establish bilateral diplomatic relations until the mid-sixties were also “attacking Hungary?” Yes, cutting off cohesion funds would be painful (and especially painful for Fidesz politicians who are pocketing them). But it would be short to medium term pain that may help pave the way for the re-establishment of democracy in Hungary. It’s a far better option than a protracted dictatorship or violence from the streets.
Why do you engage with this piece of shit.
“re-establishment of democracy in Hungary”
Hungary is a democracy! Even the very biased freedomhouse states as much. This BTW is also an attack on Hungary, Hungarians & their interests, because if you keep this up, Hungary may find itself the target of regime change, which would be justified by the likes of you and everyone else who keep perpetuating the same lie. Now just look at how well that worked out in Ukraine, where GDP/capita is now less than half of what it was in 2013, and wages were cut in half as well. It will take them decades to recover, if ever! Personally I think Ukraine is currently the best candidate to become Europe’s first failed state.
As far as “Fidesz politicians who are pocketing them”, this once again is a lot of nonsense. Call me crazy, but i am a firm believer in 1+1=2. If government officials would be stealing billions of Euros every year, would Hungary still enjoy the relatively robust rate of growth it experienced since 2013? And this while the debt/GDP ratio continues to decline, meaning that Hungary has relatively robust growth, within the context of conservative fiscal policy. Not to mention that consumer debt/GDP has been on a declining path as well, so it is clearly not a debt-driven recovery. I am by no means claiming that there is not a serious corruption problem in Hungary but not at the scale being claimed, which is outright absurd. And cutting EU funds would be damaging to Hungary’s economy more than anything. It would then hurt its demographics, which is irreparable damage within current context (unless you think it can be repaired with mass-colonization, which amounts to ethno-cultural replacement). So yes, you are advocating against Hungary & Hungarians!
Hungary’s interest is cutting the monumental corruption and idiotic waste. At present
– 25-30% of the EU funds are misappropriated by the Orban mafia straight away. (see Transp.Intl study, etc.)
– A huge portion is then wasted on whimsy, money-draining projects, typically empty stadiums, instead of invested for good returns.
– The corrupt system results in shoddy work and counterselection which in turn discourages investment, innovation and achievement (see poor and dropping indicators).
Western Europe was rebuilt after WW2 with less Marshall Plan funds. In addition to the daily corruption crimes, the Orban regime is committing a historical crime against Hungary.
Yes, keep justifying it!
@ György Lázár
You are absolutely right. As that giant intellect Yogi Berra said – it’s not over till its ove: a far more practical piece of advice, than guessing when the fat lady will stop singing on stage 🙂 I don’t think there is anything wrong with the occasional wishful thinking.
Tnx for this comprehensive article, very enlightening for the “outsiders”. Covers all aspects of the situation and, minor exaggeration notwithstanding, nota the nail with the conclusions.
I’m not sure about who and when crossed a Rubicon in our case here.
I rather see it as a mini “kalandozàsok kòra” – Orban the barbarian launching raids into the European democracy, rule of law, human rights areas and meeting no opposition going ahead with the rape and pillage, pushing ever further.
No Lechfeld in sight yet.
I can’t see Orban being “important”, “the most dangerous man” and like, he is like an aggressive small lab rat tracing the way for the bigger European brown rats – if he doesn’t get clobbered they can safely proceed along the same path.
Pity the big fat cats have been snoozing, shirking their duties.
@ Göllner András
I was worried about your silence. Glad to see that you are alive and well.
Great article, too bad that it is full of lies and fake information.
Nevertheless the result of the Sunday election is:
Team Fidesz-KDNP vs. Team Open Society Foundation 134:65
Having said such I challenge you for a non-moderated free and open debate here under the rules of decency and mutual respect to show how misguided you are.
If you have the courage to step up to the plate and Chris allows free exchange of opinions without holding a protective shield in front of you I am ready to point out your hateful destructive garbage that is so prevalent in the left-lib media after the devastating defeat of the unorganized opposition in the election.
Pick up the glove András and let’s get at each other’s throat.
Mr. Lazar;
Trump is NOT “unpredictable”, you just have to think like he does, to understand his logic.
As matter of fact, his thinking is very plain and simple, could say childish.
Have you failed to learn at party seminars ; you have to think like your enemy ,in order to get into his mind?
Mr.HFP;
Thanks for your new method, of posting the comments, and marking when part you have censored. Instead of just eliminating the entire comment, one after the other.
Observer;
Orban is dangerous to Orban himself, and no one else.
Hungary hardly could do any better under any one’s leadership.
A poor country without any resources. The land and the ability and ambition of her population.
But that they even refuse to reckognize and use, or even consider.
They are their own worse enemy, always.
Just read this HFP and KMH. You’ll have no doubts.
Beg to disagree.
Hungary used to do better in the respective circumstances and international economic environment before 2010, incl. during the Orban gov 1998-2002 when the corruption was gearing up, but was not yet institutionalized and there was some real government.
Starting with the Antal gov Hun was in the process of adopting and learning democracy. The Orban rot became obvious in 1999 (many say earlier) with the Grippen affair and went from bad to worse since, culminating incl. the 2006 riots/putsch attempt before the full frontal assault after 2010.
The poor to bad results can be seen in most indicators – i.e. Orban was proven to be extremely harmful to Hungary, dangerous.
Re “..The land and the ability and ambition of her population,
but that they even refuse to recognize and use, or even consider..”
Yes, this is the reality, but action can be taken toward its improvement, instead of detriment by of whipping up even more extreme irrational behavior.
And, yes, Hun “are their own worse enemy” more often than not, but this doesn’t acquit the Orban mafia, or anyone else for that matter, of their crimial acts.
Lantos on April 10, 2018 at 7:54 pm
I noticed that your comment was moderated due to some anti-Semitic rant that I guess described the named person as a Jew with some unfriendly adjectives. Let me enlighten you my friend. That man is a blotch on the Jewish People and should never be associated with such a brave and worthy Nation. So please do not call him a Jew as he is the worst enemy of Jews.
He likely said nothing about his ancestry as even my own comment had the same earring trigger label for merely calling him a globalist. This site is run by
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“Ruling white supremacy minority”
Yawn. Orban won fair and square with turnout. It also very much the right of a leader of a European nation to defend his own peoples interests from colonization, petty western dictators in Brussels and financial speculators like Soros.
For Your Information
(Morrison, Latos and all other little fascists)
After 2010 there were no free and fair elections in Hungary. Witness
– a heavily biased electoral system (eg 44% of votes = 67% of seats)
– the handing over (with gov credits too) of 90% of the private media to Habony, Mészáros, Vajna, etc. and funding it by phony advertising
– the strangling of all critical outlets by financial “blockade” or administrative measures (denial of frequencies, obstruction of distribution, etc.)
– doubling the budget of the “public” electronic media (from 44 to 80+ billion) and illegally turning it in a party propaganda outlet
– public funded gov propaganda campaigns under the pretense of these being “informative”
– intimidation of and vote buying among the countryside and workfare dependent voters
– irregularities, violations or cheating in the election process by e.g. hustling, bussing or threatening voters, “crashes” of the IT systems, and the reported ones like missing ballots, discrepancies, etc.
On April 8th the above system worked, as it was intended to.
The suspected IT system and party list ballots cheating was probably a plan that was triggered late morning /noon by nervous fid leaders when they saw the large participation numbers.
Observer on April 11, 2018 at 10:02 am
“Morrison, Latos and all other little fascists”
Thank you for the label Mr. Big Communist!
R.Morrison et al
Anytime. You can count on me for labels or more.
BTW I was an active member of a Conservative party and have always despised and opposed your ilk ie. the communists/fascists.
@ Robert Morrison (aka “Lovas”)
I do not debate people who abuse their spouses, who hand in other people’s work as their own, who support alt-right white supremacist, glorify those who have hijacked Hungary’s democracy, and do so under an assumed identity.
“Lovas”. I do not engage in debating cowards, who hide behind a false names, while pitching balls for the new fascists in Europe and the West. I do not engage in conversation, the promoters of Putin, whose secret agents persecute, bully and murder those who are fighting for civil rights in Malta, the UK and throughout the territory of the former Soviet Empire.
Troll ! I prefer listening to John Coltrane with my brother, the reverend Dr. Cornel West. Why not put on your headset, and come clean, my friend. Why are you so afraid of your own identity ? Could it be, that you are unable to stomach your own poisonous concoction, the mask behind which you hide ?
Keep you hopes up !
Putyin is not building his army for nothing.
The tanks will be rolling soon again !
Now you can applaud that . Hm ?
As for the EU monies coming for Hungary.
Not one cent can come to Hungary without the recommendation and supervision of Altus Zrt.since 2014-til 2021.
The Hungarian PM has NO power to Veto it .
So, who is the first one to profit on it ?
Bende
Who sold you this complete BS?
Let’s face it folks, Hungary is a failed state.
Do you all realize there are cities in this world with over 20 even more than 30 million inhabitant, and run superbly by a single City Manager, or mayor.
Just why the hell a small meaningless country needs a big and expensive beurocracy?
Please note that there are two(2) Lantos. I include my Given Name as well;
I am NOT the Lantos who does not provide his Given Name.
So for any future comments to Lantos, please refer to him as Lantos 1;
I will continue as Gabor Lantos, Thank you.
András B. Göllner on April 11, 2018 at 1:44 pm
“I do not debate people who abuse their spouses, who hand in other people’s work as their own, who support alt-right white supremacist, glorify those who have hijacked Hungary’s democracy, and do so under an assumed identity.”
No, you don’t debate people whom you are afraid of because they could expose the weaknesses of your publication. I knew that you were a gutless coward with a Lovas phobia.
However the fact that you assume that I am your nemesis “Lovas” tells the story. He must have wiped the floor with you that you just cannot digest. See your shrink before it becomes untreatable.
Keep feeding your readers with your ultra leftist baseless propaganda.
@ Robert Morrison
🙂 Don’t loose your cool my little friend. I know it must be terribly frustrating for you to digest, that I eat little munchkins like you for breakfast sprinkled over my honey nut cereal.
Every European nation one after the other, on every election they rejected the ultra-liberal-left.
Even Hungarians ,rather stay with a petty dictator , and overwhelmingly rejected both, the extreme right, as well you guys the extreme left.
A super-majority vote for a bum like Orban, simply equate that you leftist hatemongers were flushed down the toilet.
You blame and accuse everybody for not wanting you.
You accuse the voters of being “fascists”.
Attacked even the intelligencia of being “unintelligent”.
Attacked the people living outside BP. The entire countryside of being “serfs” and ignorant peasants.
You alleged cheatings, accuse every one and everything, but can not realize it was YOU, who were the only reason of being rejected by the great majority of the Hungarian voters.
Unable and unwilling to realize and admit that the people did not consider you worthy of their trust.
Only idiots refuse to learn from their own stupidity.
So, you likely will just repeat it again and again.
You are just that smart. Hm?
OBSERVER;
I happened to read Mr.Gyurcsany’s sworn deposition at the Csaszy case.
Beside, the EU contract is public record !
Did you you not read it ?
Or could not remember it ?
Or it would not make any sense to you any way ?
OBSERVER;
You might also read Hungary’s Alaptorveny !
Just in case, you might even learn something.
Although ,it’s rather a collection of nonsense.
But that’s what they have at the moment.
Observer on April 11, 2018 at 6:39 pm
“You can count on me for labels or more”
Of course. People having no arguments or digestible thought use labels rather than facts. So just keep your labelling machine running rather than running the wheels of your brain. Easier and more popular on this and similar sites where facts don’t required to state anything that is the push of left lib idea.
You must be one of the students of Mr. Gölner and learnt his lessons how to throw several PC labels into one sentence in order to discredit the other side rather than debating issues: “I do not debate people who abuse their spouses, who hand in other people’s work as their own, who support alt-right white supremacist, glorify those who have hijacked Hungary’s democracy, and do so under an assumed identity”
András B. Göllner on April 11, 2018 at 11:43 pm
“ I eat little munchkins like you for breakfast ..”
Yes Andriska, your mouth is big enough to eat me, but your guts are not big enough to debate me. And your talent is not there to debate anybody with solid stands and conviction.
So just go back to your “honey nut”, Honey.
@ Bendy Goose
“you leftist hatemongers were flushed down the toilet. ”
Since my article was about the intellectual bankruptcy of leftist hatemongers, I trust you are embracing me to those sun-tanned breasts of yours under your pajamas in Palm Springs. I am willing to put up with your gesture in the name of brotherly love. But please take care by remembering the advice one of my learned friends has given me. Wet geese should not fly past midnight ! Please tell your friend Morrison, that he needn’t worry for now. I finished my breakfast 🙂
Well,your body today released and published 2,000 names of the Soros brigade.
I take my time to see who is on it, and who is not.
I suspect who are on that list.
Excellent Analysis.
A few days ago Othmar Karas the leader of the EU parliament fraction of OEVP (conservative Party) has written his opinion about Orbán’s victory. He condemned Orbán’s methods and accused him to Transport antisemitism. Except the extreme right, the whole Austrian media is critical of Orbán and his ilk.
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