It has been rumoured for a long time that Hungary is turning into an undemocratic state. A couple of years ago, the Fidesz party and its allies acquired an absolute majority in the parliament, and the new government started immediately to change the constitution of the country. Since then the atmosphere of public affairs in Hungary has deteriorated greatly, with anti-semitism and anti-Gypsy sentiment strengthening constantly, and liberal artists fleeing the country and renouncing it.
It has been rumoured for a long time that Hungary is turning into an undemocratic state. A couple of years ago, the Fidesz party and its allies acquired an absolute majority in the parliament, and the new government started immediately to change the constitution of the country. Since then the atmosphere of public affairs in Hungary has deteriorated greatly, with anti-semitism and anti-Gypsy sentiment strengthening constantly, and liberal artists fleeing the country and renouncing it.
Anyone who remembers the self-liberation of eastern Europe from communism must be disappointed with the role of Fidesz in the recent developments. The word Fidesz itself is an abbreviation of the Hungarian words meaning the Alliance of Young Democrats, and when the party was founded, no person older than 35 was allowed to join. It was a liberal party back then with its young politicians actively protesting and demanding free elections. The end of communism in Hungary was an inspiration to the world at that time, because there was no barbarism and no violence: instead, politicians meet each other at a round table to discuss the future of the country in a civilised way.
Much has changed since. Fidesz has been a ‘national conservative” party for a long time now – the term itself being a euphemism for the kind of extreme rightist political parties which are not openly imitating the old Nazis but whose policies are at least in the long run bound to come into conflict with the tenets of western democracy, such as human rights or the rule of law.
‘National conservatives’ are typically the good cop paired with the bad cop of real brutal neo-Nazism: while the bad cop threatens ethnic minorities and liberal intellectuals with death and destruction, people start to think that national conservatives are the lesser evil and that one must elect them as a protective wall against the onslaught of the real villains. More often, , national conservatives are happy to introduce all the political changes demanded by Neo-Nazis. There is such a bad cop in Hungary too – it is called Jobbik. It is obvious that Fidesz has moved far to the right under the influence of Jobbik.
Human rights organisations are concerned that Fidesz is trying to create a political order otherwise similar to communist dictatorship but with a different official ideology – the national conservatism of Fidesz. The new constitution introduced by Fidesz in 2012 is being criticised by the Hungarian opposition as well as foreign scholars of constitutional law because it gives the government powers to intervene in the work of judges and the media, not to mention the gerrymandering of electoral districts in an attempt to ensure majorities to Fidesz in the future.
Panu Höglund is a Finn writing in Irish, who also has a smattering of Hungarian. He is extremely fond of the novels of Hungarian writers Jenö Rejtö and Ferenc Molnár.
