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On a hot Hungarian summer day, Gergely Gulyas, of course dressed in a suit and a tie, sits in his spacious ministerial office, enjoys the view of the Danube, appreciates power, appreciates the change of times. "The last elections gave us a strong democratic legitimacy," he says. "Fidesz is one of the strongest parties in Europe and we are very proud of it."
Those who seek a place where self-confidence and strength are demonstrated in a hesitant and hesitant EU land quickly in Budapest. On the one hand, Viktor Orban's Fidesz party has not been bothered since the re-election victory in April with a two-thirds majority in parliament. On the other hand, at the latest since the Brussels summit in late June, the Hungarian foreclosure course often reprimanded on migration policy has become a majority in the EU. "In the past we were the bad Europeans, and it's not the worst we've heard," Gulyas explains. "But in politics, you can not wait for others to say you were right."
The 36-year-old man is Viktor Orban's right-hand man as prime minister. He organizes and sells Hungarian politics both internally and externally, and he knows he has enough. Because Orban embodies the new European zeitgeist, which blows from the right, which is nationalist, authoritarian and xenophobic. "In recent years, Hungary has always been the country that has represented traditional European values," says Gulyas.
Become a Brand
The Orban Course has not only been broadcast on the nearest neighborhood The Visegrad countries, which include Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. In Slovenia, Orban's ally, Janez Jansa, won the most votes in the June poll. In Austria, there is a government at the helm, where many Hungarians see a strong man as the star. And the co-thinkers on the right are now also in power in Italy
Hungary can therefore feel like a pioneer in Europe, as a vanguard in terms of retro-nationalization. If you want to know where this path can lead, it would be a good idea to look at what the word "orbanization" means.
At the time, one must first go back to the turn of the late 1980s, when Orban founded the Young Democrats Association in a student residence in Budapest, Fidesz for short . "I think Orban was really liberal at the time," says Istvan Hegedüs. Above all, he remembers his unconditional will to power.
Hegedüs was once a close companion of Orbán, but the paths separated because Hegedüs, the sociologist and current president of the Hungarian European Society, remained a liberal while Orban made his way to the right at early nineties. In his "first ideological turn," says Hegedüs, Orban has turned to the conservatives. It was only later that the nationalist elements and finally the populist elements were added. But "the image of the enemy" has remained constant: "It's the liberals who do not want to understand the truth, it's like an obsession with him."
Just a few years after his conservative turn, Orban was elected prime minister for the first time in 1998 – and after four years immediately rejected again. According to Hegedüs, he drew a simple lesson: "I was too weak." Now Orban began to fight uncompromisingly against his political opponents. His electoral victory in 2010 put him under the motto of a "national revolution". For his reelection in 2014, he proclaimed "illiberal democracy". And since the triumph of 2018, he preaches "Christian Democracy".
Barely Possible Disruption
There is always a new terminology, but behind it is still the same program of rebuilding the country. Zoltan Szente, a law professor in Budapest, sought a definition of this form of government: "He still enumerates some institutions of the old liberal democracy, but many fundamental rights have already been abolished," he explains. . But above all, it stands out by saying that "the government can not really be rejected anymore". In the EU, Orban has the right to the author. But similar things can be found in Russia under Vladimir Putin or in Turkey under Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "These are the models," says Szente
Since 2010, the constitutionalist observes "an authoritarian change" in Hungary, characterized by "an elite change and a Gleichschaltung". In fact, today most media and much of the economy are dominated by Orban's followers, the separation of powers is undermined and the rule of law undermined by a flood of laws and constitutional changes. "After the third consecutive election victory, we see that the remaining sectors should also be aligned," says Szente, calling it "science, courts and civil society".
The first point of attack, science, concerns the teacher personally. He is a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, which is disappearing. In the Judiciary, point two attack, a parallel structure is established by the creation of new "administrative courts". "Only loyal judges are named," Szente fears. Civil society as the third point of attack is used and criminalized. This is what is called a Stop Soros legislative package passed in June, which makes helping refugees a crime.
"This package was the last straw," says Csaba Csontos, spokesman for the Open Society Foundation, funded by George Soros and funded by the US Open Billionaire. The foundation, which has invested millions in Hungarian democratic projects, will leave the country and move to Berlin. Csaba Csontos does not want to talk about escape. "But the political and psychological pressure has become unbearable," he says. "We must protect the integrity of our work and the safety of our employees."
"The Future of Europe"
Once again, a scene goes to the minister in office of the prime minister. Gergely Gulyas comments on the movement of the Soros Foundation in one word: "It does not matter". This may seem unimportant given the anger and strength with which the government persecuted Soros as the number one public enemy for the last two years. But it is also an indication that the images of the enemy are interchangeable. And when everyone is silenced or hunted at home, there is always Brussels.
The EU has already launched numerous infringement proceedings against Hungary. From "Inquisition", Minister Gulyas speaks of a persecution of Hungary by the "left and the liberal majority". But that can not really annoy him either. On the one hand, it would be profitable to make domestic profits when needed, he explains. On the other hand, the cards would be reworked in the 2019 European elections.
In the Hungarian pro-government media, Orban is already presented as a new strongman in Europe, finding more and more supporters. He says, "We used to think that Europe was our future, and we feel today that we are the future of Europe."
(Tages-Anzeiger)
Date created: 17.07.2018, 20:37
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