Hungarian Politics Research Articles

THE POLITICS OF FIDESZ-KDNP OF HUNGARY UNDER V. ORBÁN IN WESTERN MEDIA, 2010-2024

This article offers a comprehensive analysis of Western media coverage of the Hungarian government's political course under Viktor Orban and the FIDESZ-KDNP coalition from 2010 to 2024. The study encompasses a wide range of aspects of Hungary's domestic and foreign policy, tracing the evolution of "Orbanism" perception in international media discourse. The author examines in detail the key themes that dominated Western media regarding Hungary, namely: The transformation of the country's democratic system and discussions around the concept of "illiberal democracy". Systematic conflicts between Hungary and the European Union, especially on issues of rule of law and democratic values. Hungary's strict migration policy and its impact on European policy in this area. Economic reforms known as "Orbanomics" and their controversial perception in the international arena. Changes in Hungary's media landscape and discussions about press freedom. Hungary's foreign policy course, including its relations with Russia, China, the USA, and neighboring countries. Special attention is paid to the impact of the Hungarian governance model on regional politics in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as its perception by right-wing and conservative movements in Europe and the USA. The article also examines the dynamics of Hungary's relations with the EU and NATO, particularly in the context of Russian aggression against Ukraine and Hungary's position on this conflict. The research is based on a wide range of Western media sources, including leading newspapers, magazines, television channels, and online publications. The author traces changes in the tone and focus of coverage of Hungarian politics during the specified period, identifying key trends and turning points in the international perception of Hungary. The article also examines Western media's reaction to Hungary's presidency of the Council of the European Union. The author summarizes the main trends in Western media coverage of Hungarian politics and assesses their impact on Hungary's international reputation and its relations with key partners.

Socialist in content, national in form: Small-scale housing estates in Budapest between 1945 and 1960

Abstract In the second half of the 20th century, solving the housing crisis became a significant social issue and political task throughout Europe, particularly in the countries of the Eastern Bloc. Although due to its quantity, prefabricated large mass housing estates became overrepresented, dozens of smaller, experimental, and diverse mass housing forms also emerged. It is hypothesized, that these small housing estates, due to their scale and quality, are urban planning projects that were realized across political, economic, and architectural changes. To demonstrate their adaptability, this paper presents the small housing estates built in one of the capitals of the Eastern Bloc countries—Budapest—during the most turbulent one-and-a-half decades of the socialist era (1945–1960). The research consists of three main parts: (1) Hungarian politics and housing policy, (2) Budapest's urban policy, and (3) a brief presentation of the urban planning and architectural aspects of Budapest's small housing estates. The result of the research is the creation of a complete small housing estates portfolio, illustrated archive articles, archival plans, and photographs. It becomes evident that although the times from World War II to the consolidation of power saw vastly different political eras, directives, and ideals realized, along with various architectural styles and housing policies, the small housing estate as an urban planning product was able to adapt and survive. Moreover, it is a valuable architectural, housing, and urban planning imprint of the era, the only mass housing form realized in numerous examples in Budapest.

Possibilities and limits of political humour in a hybrid regime

This article focuses on the Hungarian Two-Tailed Dog Party (MKKP), which can be defined as a joke party. MKKP uses humour to criticise the corruption flourishing around the governing party Fidesz as well as its simplified and racist form of political communication. However, MKKP’s critical stance extends to Hungarian politicians and the political system in general. This visual ethnographic research focuses on the activities that MKKP organised during national days in Hungary between 2017 and 2022, which included a space launch, a peace march and an alternative national day celebration on 20 August. The events can be defined as parody performances. The field material is complemented by a semi-structured interview with the party activists. MKKP’s humour is critical and revealing in nature, aiming to expose the powerholders’ agenda. However, instead of ridiculing, MKKP’s humour is primarily corrective and supportive. As such, it has the potential to alleviate polarisation. In MKKP’s activism, creativity and cynicism exist in close proximity to one another. Humour also functions as a powerful antidote against simplified populist truths that rely on fearmongering and enemy images. In a hybrid regime, absurd humour can be used to reveal the inherent absurdities of the political reality. MKKP has occasionally succeeded in entering the state-controlled public sphere. During recent years, the party has started to address societal matters more seriously, without abandoning its roots as a humour party.

Nationalism, Pronatalism, and the Guild of Gynecology: The Complex Legacy of Abortion Regulation in Hungary

Abstract By tracing the history of abortion politics in Hungary since World War I, this article covers a century of conflict with particular attention to gynecologists’ self-serving professional jockeying and lobbying under very different political regimes. It suggests that nationalism has been a pivotal element of the abortion debates that both government actors and gynecologists have shaped over the last hundred years and argues that abortion rights were differently recognized in eastern and western Europe during the Cold War because of the legacy of mass wartime rapes committed by the Soviet troops in Hungary, among other countries, which determined those countries’ postwar legislation on abortion and reproductive rights. The article introduces the rarely researched contribution of the gynecologist lobby to the debates by examining how they could represent their own interests independently of political regime. Today, Hungary's illiberal regime questions the legitimacy of abortion by normalizing US fundamentalist-Christian discourse because anti-abortion policy fits into its nation-building course.

What Went Wrong In Hungary

Abstract: Why did Hungarian democracy have a harder time developing and rooting itself than democracy in other countries? The answer lies in the overlapping institutions and incentives that create democratic resilience. Hungary's political elites never finished their constitutional transition from communism to democracy by agreeing on a new democratic constitution. The 1998 elections polarized Hungarian politics around competing conceptions of democracy in ways that made it hard to reach consensus on a shared constitutional arrangement. Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz party rose to power in the late 1990s by offering a strong state that would protect Hungarian society from the threat of social liberalism and foreclose a potential return of communism. Orbán returned to power in 2010, on the heels of the global financial crisis, and began centralizing and entrenching power by deft manipulation of democratic institutions. The case of Hungary tells us what to look for in anticipating democratic failure and serves as a cautionary tale for the EU.

From depoliticization to politicization: three periods of thinking politically with Carl Schmitt in Hungary

ABSTRACT The article connects the much discussed recent political developments in Hungary under Viktor Orbán with the dynamics between depoliticization and politicization guiding the local reception of Carl Schmitt’s works. Recent developments in Hungarian politics have been widely researched, but mostly without giving due attention to political thinking. The article argues that the reception of Schmitt’s works, both in academia and in public discourse, has significantly influenced political thinking in Hungary throughout the 20th century and in recent decades. By reading the history of reception, the article aims to confirm that depoliticization and politicization are not diametrically opposed in the sense that the former stands for the elimination of politics. Rather, depoliticization and politicization follow from each other, as Schmitt himself described the impossibility of neutralizing politics. Beginning with the 1920s, this article examines three periods of Schmitt’s reception and shows that, after attempts of depoliticization, Schmitt was increasingly acknowledged as an author who argues for an overtly politicized account of politics. In terms of political thinking, this last development has defined the context of Hungarian politics since the 2010s.

Rule of Law Backsliding and Memory Politics in Hungary

Introduction of the institutional framework of constitutional democracy and transitional justice in Hungary – Liberal constitutionalism as a victim of the authoritarian efforts of Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party after the 2010 parliamentary elections – The legal governance of history contributing to the backsliding of democracy and the rule of law – Use of memory politics for the newly established authoritarian regime’s own political purposes – Transitional justice measures to help reconcile society and consolidate democracy – The current Hungarian government’s attitude towards public discussion of history

‘Whoever is not against us is for us’ sectarianization of politics in Hungary

ABSTRACT Modern political trends in democracies, such as post-truth, populist, and identity politics, have produced a solid emotion-based distinction between true believers and non-believers, polarizing the perceptions of the legitimacy of political regimes and decisions. The paper aims to capture this process by introducing the concept of sectarianization built on Max Weber’s thoughts on political sects in democracies and Émile Durkheim’s theory of cults in modern societies. We highlight four core components of sectarianization through the illustrative case of Viktor Orbán’s Hungary: artificially produced charisma; exclusive but voluntary community (schism, conversion and ex-communication); monopolized political rituals; and controlled belief system (propaganda). Building on theories of political/civil religions, personality cults, sociological research on new religious movements and studies on political behaviour and communication, we demonstrate the analytical usefulness of the concept.

The rule of law in the grip of populist authoritarianism: Hungary and Poland

AbstractThis article examines the impact of populism on the rule of law in Hungary and Poland. It argues that political discourse is important in setting the political agenda and is often followed by the criminalization of minorities, Euroskepticism, intervening in the operation of supreme courts, affecting the decisions of the judges, and disregarding international law and/or supranational legal orders. It also highlights how politicization and securitization increasingly operate under populist authoritarian regimes through the legal system and legislative initiatives to increase the power of the government and the ruling party. Discourse analysis is a valuable tool to reveal whether a legislator's intention serves the people or exploits power to change the structure and functioning of the political system. Thus, this article follows the course of politics in Hungary and Poland from discourse to hijacking democracy through instrumentalizing the rule of law.Related ArticlesDeegan‐Krause, Kevin, and Tim Haughton. 2009. “Toward a More Useful Conceptualization of Populism: Types and Degrees of Populist Appeals in the Case of Slovakia.” Politics & Policy 37(4): 821–41. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2009.00200.x.Skowronska, Kaja. 2021. “The Recent Politicization of Immigration in Poland in Light of Preexisting State Practices: Continuity or Change in the Understanding of Citizenship and Nationhood?” Politics & Policy 49(4): 940–67. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12424.Zafirovski, Milan. 2022. “Toward a New Political Democracy Index: Construction, Validation, and Calculation for Individual Societies and Types of Society.” Politics and Policy 50(4): 663–99. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12488.

Hungary: Political Developments and Data in 2022

AbstractThis report on Hungarian politics in 2022 aims at explaining how the incumbent Fidesz‐KDNP (Fidesz‐Keresztény Demokrata Néppárt) government managed to uphold its dominance in Hungarian politics. Through nominating and electing the new president of Hungary, winning the parliamentary elections along with presenting a referendum reflecting the Fidesz political agenda, the government successfully maintained its public support in 2022 despite external challenges such as the war on Ukraine or the ongoing fraud feud with the European Union (EU) and internal conflicts resulting from economic pressures.

“Den ensomme helt mod magtens og storpolitikkens skamfulde forsømmelser”: Den individuelle projektion af en nations kamp i FN-embedsmand Povl Bang-Jensens minde

The Hungarian political and social discourse of the last decades often makes use of a national myth based on Hungarian history that focuses on a constant struggle for survival. The myth is built around the concept of the heroic Hungarians, who from time to time fight against a political and / or military preponderance. A narrative characteristic for the countries of East-Central and Eastern Europe has been created, which in its distinction between itself and the other concentrates on self-defence and victimhood, but at the same time emphasizes the nation’s superiority over the others. The image of the nation characterized by the uninterrupted struggle for survival becomes a schematic but effective tool in the political discourse. It is not a new narrative, but the actualization of the well-known, that finds appropriate events and personalities to disseminate the existing, traditional self-image. The paper attempts to demonstrate how the Danish United Nations official Povl Bang-Jensen and the role he played in the international politics after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 has been used to convey this image. Based on memories, books and documentaries my goal is to discuss how individual recall of experienced events contributed to the (re)construction of Bang-Jensen’s personality. Furthermore, I try to shed light on how intertwining memories about a historical event, scientific research and history writing points to a changed perception of the scientific facts that are no longer considered objective and independent of human consciousness or actions. They describe a reality, which is influenced by consciousness and interpreted through textual formulations. The article argues that the subjective perspective constituted in the memories about Bang-Jensen creates an almost mythologized interpretation of the Danish diplomat as a symbol of freedom and morality, as well. The article was among others inspired by works of Maurice Halbwachs, Sabine Mollers, Annette Warrings and Bernard Eric Jensen on memory, historical awareness and the use of history.

EKONOMI-POLITIK DAN REAKSI KULTURAL POPULISME KANAN-JAUH DI HUNGARIA DAN POLANDIA

The phenomenon of the rise of far-right populism and the strengthening of identity politics in some Europe countries has received considerable academic and practical attention in the last decade. The rise of far-right populists in the electoral political process and the increasing public support in Hungary and Poland marked a new chapter of political contestation in the region. This article aims to examine how economic and cultural factors influence the rise of far-right populism in those countries. This study employs a qualitative approach with literary analysis and web-based research to obtain complex interplay between political-economy, cultural, and populist-far-right identity politics. This paper argues that the complex interplay between economic inequality and the superiority of traditional culture of “the self” are the triggers for the rise of far-right populist identity politics in Hungary and Poland.

Class Trips beyond Borders: Reimagining the Nation through State-Sponsored Heritage Tourism

AbstractThe article explores how cross-border heritage tourism is promoted in public schools to reimagine Hungary as an ethnically homogeneous nation by incorporating ethnic kin communities that live in neighboring countries. Cross-border heritage tourism has long served to establish strong ties to ethnic diaspora communities that live beyond the territorial borders of the nation-state. National borders in Central and Eastern Europe were repeatedly redrawn across ethnic groups over the twentieth century. Heritage tourism remains a key cultural and economic practice that symbolically questions current national borders and aims to increase the viability of ethnic enclave economies in countries where the given ethnic group is a minority. The article focuses on a large-scale student travel program that was launched by the Hungarian government in 2010, the year that marked the start of a brisk populist turn in Hungarian politics. The program provides funding to public school students for organized class trips to areas of neighboring countries (Romania, Slovakia, Serbia, Croatia, and Ukraine) that belonged to the Hungarian state before World War I. It shows how the Hungarian government mobilizes the public education system to foster a narrow and exclusionary ethnic understanding of cultural membership by selectively overemphasizing Hungarian heritage in regions that have had multi-ethnic, multi-religious, and multicultural histories for centuries. This project extends research on identity-based heritage tourism to show how it has become an integral part of the propaganda toolkit of populist governments.

헝가리의 반유대주의와 홀로코스트 기억 논쟁

Hungarians' perceptions and debates about the Holocaust show diversified aspects through the socialist period and the period after the transition of the socialist system. Hungarian victim consciousness, or collective perception, which can be called victimhood, lies at the base of Hungarian consciousness, and this consciousness is consumed for political purposes by Hungarian politicians and mass media. By combining the narrative of Hungarian alienation and loneliness with nationalism, the extreme logic advocated by the Hungarian far-right appeared. It is Hungarian nationalism that is used as a nutrient to lead this trend. However, in fact, Hungarian nationalism is also likely to be a fictional phenomenon. Nationalist tendencies in Hungary have grown stronger since the transition in 1989 and are still a highly favored political tool today. For this reason, the Jewish victims are regarded as a 'unitary group' and regarded by nationalist Hungarians as a 'common enemy'. Hungarian right-wing politicians are using this narrative to acquire and maintain power. After all, emphasizing the victimhood of Hungarians using nationalism, which is a very attractive tool for politicians, is a worrisome aspect in that it promotes the revival of the anti-Semitic movement and the fading and contempt of memories of the Holocaust.

HUNGARIAN POLICY AGAINST THE BACKGROUND OF THE RUSSIAN SMO

The Author analyses position of Hungary at the background of an active phase of Russian special military operation in Ukraine. The research is being based on facts as well as on the analyses of public speeches of leading Hungarian politics and publications of known national experts. Like in other Central European countries, Hungary has been worried by Russian propositions to bring back the system of European security to the contours of 1997. Still Victor Orban did not refuse from the visit to Moscow traditionally scheduled to February. In general, position of Hungary ion 2022 can be estimated as neutral to both sides of the conflict. Both special geopolitical situation of the country as well as quite successful pragmatic relations with Moscow. In describing the conflict as well as reaction to it, the author sticks to terminology used in political space of Hungary and Visegrad region.

Balázs Ablonczy. Ismeretlen Trianon: Az összeomlás és a békeszerződés történetei, 1918–1921 [Unknown Trianon: histories of the collapse and the peace treaty, 1918–21

Balázs Ablonczy. <i>Ismeretlen Trianon: Az összeomlás és a békeszerződés történetei, 1918–1921</i> [Unknown Trianon: histories of the collapse and the peace treaty, 1918–21

Top Gun: The Orbán Government’s Position on the War in Ukraine

Top Gun: The Orbán Government’s Position on the War in Ukraine

Epizode u životu Bosanske muslimanske zajednice u Mađarskoj (1920-1945)

In this study we present an important and interesting period in the history of Islam in Hungary in the 20th century, the past of the Islamic community in Budapest between the two world wars, which was mainly composed of Bosniaks. Special emphasis will be placed on the life of the community's imam, Husein Hilmi Durić , ‘Grand Mufti’ of Buda and former Military Imam, his domestic and international activities on behalf of the community, and the Hungarian supporters, friends and helpers of the Bosniaks. There is also a brief description of a few other members of the community. The Hungarian Islamic Community , founded in 1988 and still functioning as an established church in Hungary, claims as its legal predecessor the Independent Hungarian Autonomous Islamic Religious Community of Buda, named after Gül Baba, which operated de facto between 1931 and 1945. In our study, we describe in detail how Bosnian soldiers who fought valiantly in the Austro-Hungarian monarchy's army in the First World War found their way to Hungary after the war, how they found a new home, mostly in Budapest, how they started their lives again, choosing mostly Hungarian wives and quickly learning Hungarian language and customs. But soon the practice of Islam became indispensable for them, and that is why the first Islamic community in Hungary was founded in 1931. The adventurous life of the community's leader, Husein Hilmi Durić, is described in detail, along with his extensive activities in Hungary and his domestic and international contacts. Similarly, we describe the activities of influential Hungarian supporters of the community (e.g. Andor Medriczky, Gyula Germanus, István Bárczy) who selflessly helped Bosnian Muslims to practice their faith in Hungary. We look at the two major trips of the community leaders to the Middle East and India to strengthen Islam in Hungary and to raise funds for the planned mosque in Buda, which never materialised. Durić's special relationship with the Albanian King Zogu, his travels to Tirana and his programmes are also discussed in more detail. Nor can we ignore the unfortunate fact that in the 1930s and 1940s, during the Christian Nationalist Horthy era, many people did not look kindly on the activities of Bosnian Muslims living in Hungary. We then turn to the life and activities of another community leader, Mehmed Resulović, as a fencing master. We will also outline how an average Bosniak lived, what he did, how he spent his everyday life, how he dressed and how he entertained himself in Hungary in the 1930s and 1940s, far from his homeland. We also discuss, of course, how some of them became involved in Hungarian politics, as members of far-right organisations and movements, possibly because they were invited to join these circles by their former Hungarian officers and comrades in arms of First World War. Finally, we outline the life of an average Bosnian Muslim, Hasan Jamaković, who had a typical career in Hungary.

Stratená prestíž a medzivojnová maďarská kultúrna diplomacia (Jej inštitucionálne a právne základy)

The paper focuses on the birth of Hungarian cultural diplomacy in the interwar period. Hungary had relatively high prestige in the Western liberal newspapers and journals before the first world war, but the problems with electoral reforms and minority issues dramatically changed this situation. This change together with the results of the first world war lead to the Trianon peace treaty. The Hungarian politicians planned to restore the international prestige of the country by the active cultural and scientific diplomacy. Count Kuno Klebelsberg played the crucial role in this process. He served as conservative minister of education and religion across ten years. The network of Collegium Hungaricum and the institutes for history in Berlin, Rome and Vienna represented the main form of Hungarian foreign representation. Hungary also subsided the university departments and lecturers of Hungarian language working abroad very actively this time. The parliament adopted the main legal norm of cultural policy in 1927. This norm regulated the work of cultural-scientific institutes operating abroad and also the system of Hungarian fellowships. The cultural diplomacy was the domain of the educational ministry instead the foreign office. This diplomacy represented the very successful form of foreign activities of Hungarian state.

The Advantages of Chaos: Myth-Making and COVID-19 in Hungary

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has created new opportunities and challenges for populist regimes. A growing body of work has explored the formation of populist and nationalist political reactions in the wake of a global health crisis. This article explores myth-making and the Covid 19 pandemic in populist Hungary. We identify pandemic ‘mythogenic’ narratives that reconfigure and replay older ethno-nationalist myths, those of the ‘polluting’ alien Other, Hungarian exceptionalism, and treachery and betrayal. Thus, the power of global crisis is drawn into extant myths to support local political ends and the interests of Hungary’s governing party. The article cites examples of mythologising practice from Hungary’s hybrid media landscape, suggesting Hungarian politics is as much contested within the mythic and symbolic as in other domains.