{"id":70610,"date":"2022-02-21T11:00:35","date_gmt":"2022-02-21T00:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=70610"},"modified":"2022-02-21T12:36:01","modified_gmt":"2022-02-21T01:36:01","slug":"hungarys-freedom-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/hungarys-freedom-election\/","title":{"rendered":"Hungary\u2019s freedom election"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

When Hungarians go to the polls<\/a> in April, liberal democracy will be on the ballot\u2014and not only in Hungary. Former US President Donald Trump is promoting<\/a> the populist prime minister, Viktor Orban. Tucker Carlson, Fox News\u2019 most-watched on-air personality, has travelled<\/a> to Budapest to promote Orban\u2019s brand of ethnic nationalism. Nonetheless, Orban is facing his most serious challenge since returning to power in 2010.<\/p>\n

Hungary\u2019s normally fractious opposition has finally united behind a single candidate<\/a>: Peter Marki-Zay, the conservative mayor of Hodmezovasarhely, a small, rural town in the centre of the country. A devout Christian with seven children, Marki-Zay is running on a pro-European, pro-rule-of-law, anti-corruption platform. He describes<\/a> himself as \u2018everything that Viktor Orban pretends to be\u2019.<\/p>\n

Orban, now 58, was a reform-minded firebrand 30 years ago. But over the past decade, he has transformed Hungary into an \u2018illiberal democracy<\/a>\u2019 where only his voice represents the people. During his first term as prime minister in 1998\u20132002, Orban shepherded Hungary into NATO and the European Union. But after being defeated in 2002, he vowed never again to risk an electoral loss. Ditching his former pro-Europe, pro-democracy agenda, he embraced the politics of ethno-nationalism and anti-globalist grievance.<\/p>\n

Upon returning to office in 2010 with a two-thirds<\/a> parliamentary majority, Orban rewrote<\/a> Hungary\u2019s constitution and election laws to entrench himself in power. His party, Fidesz, soon controlled the country\u2019s media<\/a> and judiciary<\/a>\u2014including the Constitutional Court. And Orban and his cronies became very rich<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In gearing up for this year\u2019s election, Orban has held rallies accusing<\/a> the EU of attempting to \u2018seize Hungary from the hands of the Virgin Mary, to cast it at the feet of Brussels\u2019. Yet despite his rants and flagrant violations of EU rules and values, Hungary remains a member of the bloc. The EU\u2019s convoluted bureaucracy simply wasn\u2019t built to handle an autocrat like Orban. It lacks any mechanism to bring him to heel, largely because he has been able to rely on Poland\u2019s own illiberal government to veto any action taken against him.<\/p>\n

As a Hungarian by birth, this year\u2019s election is personal for me. I was six years old in 1955 when I opened the door of our Budapest apartment and faced three men in workers\u2019 overalls. \u2018We came about the gas meter,\u2019 one lied. \u2018Get your mother.\u2019 I called out my mother\u2019s name, returned to my room and didn\u2019t see her (or my father, who was already imprisoned) for almost two years. My parents, the last independent journalists in Soviet-controlled Hungary, were convicted of espionage and sentenced to long prison terms.<\/p>\n

Even by Cold War standards, the jailing of a couple with two small children was sufficiently shocking to merit front-page coverage<\/a> in the New York Times<\/em>. Fortunately, my parents were freed 18 months later, just in time to cover the October 1956 Hungarian uprising. But that year\u2019s revolution was brutally crushed by Soviet tanks and troops, inaugurating an occupation that would last until 1989. \u2018Budapest,\u2019 President Dwight D. Eisenhower proclaimed<\/a> in his second inaugural address in January 1957, \u2018is no longer merely the name of a city; henceforth it is a new and shining symbol of man\u2019s yearning to be free.\u2019<\/p>\n

I was still a small child when we began our westward journey the following year. But I have remained immensely proud of the land we were forced to abandon. On 16 June 1989, I stood with 300,000 Hungarians in Budapest\u2019s Heroes\u2019 Square, for the reburial of those who had died in the failed revolution.<\/p>\n

Moved to tears by the solemn ceremony, I still recall the final speaker, a skinny, bearded 26-year-old who declared<\/a>, \u2018If we are determined enough, we can force the ruling [Communist] Party to face free elections.\u2019 With those rousing words, the young Orban launched his political ascent. Within a few months, he had left Budapest to study at the University of Oxford on a grant<\/a> from the American financier-philanthropist George Soros<\/a>, whom Orban now routinely smears as an all-purpose scapegoat.<\/p>\n

In 1995, while regional demagogues stoked a genocidal war in the Balkans, I chose my hometown as the place to wed the diplomat Richard Holbrooke, who was still in the midst of negotiating the end of that conflict. In his wedding toast, flanked by Hungarian President Arpad Goncz, my new husband said, \u2018With this marriage, I also welcome Hungary back into the European family of democracies\u2014where she belongs.\u2019<\/p>\n

Richard and I had friendly relations with Orban during his first term, even hosting him for dinner in our home. Although he is not a murderous dictator in the manner of Russian President Vladimir Putin, he lacks deep convictions beyond amassing power for himself. His genius lies in stoking feelings of thwarted nationalism, assuring Hungarians that only he can defend them against a hostile, non-Christian world. I frequently heard the same language from Balkan warlords 25 years ago.<\/p>\n

Hungary may no longer jail independent reporters, but Orban\u2019s regime has silenced critical voices in more subtle and equally effective ways, such as by withholding broadcast licences<\/a> and consolidating<\/a> news outlets into holding companies run by Orban\u2019s allies. The Soviet troops who once patrolled my neighbourhood are long gone. In Orban, however, Putin has an ally inside the EU\u2014even as the Kremlin threatens Hungary\u2019s security from the east, in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Orban proved unfit to realise the promise he voiced in Heroes\u2019 Square in 1989. When 90% of the media in Hungary is state-controlled, it is hard to call elections there \u2018free\u2019. Nonetheless, the choice this spring is not up to Trump or Carlson or even Orban; it is up to Hungarian voters.<\/p>\n

Almost half a million Hungarians (out of a population of 10 million) have opted to emigrate<\/a> since Orban assumed power. Now we, the Hungarian diaspora, have a special responsibility to make our voices heard, so that tomorrow\u2019s Hungarians will not have to realise their potential elsewhere.<\/p>\n

For the second time in my lifetime, Hungary has an opportunity to be \u2018a symbol of man\u2019s yearning to be free\u2019. But Hungarians must seize it while they still can.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Hungarians go to the polls in April, liberal democracy will be on the ballot\u2014and not only in Hungary. Former US President Donald Trump is promoting the populist prime minister, Viktor Orban. Tucker Carlson, Fox …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1497,"featured_media":70612,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[106,753,1025,2197],"class_list":["post-70610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-democracy","tag-election","tag-european-union","tag-hungary"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHungary\u2019s freedom election | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/hungarys-freedom-election\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hungary\u2019s freedom election | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When Hungarians go to the polls in April, liberal democracy will be on the ballot\u2014and not only in Hungary. Former US President Donald Trump is promoting the populist prime minister, Viktor Orban. Tucker Carlson, Fox ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/hungarys-freedom-election\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-02-21T00:00:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-02-21T01:36:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-1348277312-e1645397028429.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"925\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"617\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kati Marton\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kati Marton\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI's analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/hungarys-freedom-election\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-1348277312-e1645397028429.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-1348277312-e1645397028429.jpg\",\"width\":925,\"height\":617,\"caption\":\"BUDAPEST, HUNGARY - OCTOBER 23: Viktor Orban, Hungary's prime minister delivers his speech during a peace march on October 23, 2021 in Budapest, Hungary. The new Hungarian opposition leader Peter Marki-Zay, the surprise winner of the primaries, intends to shake up the political scene to overthrow Hungary's President Viktor Orban of the Fidesz party in April 2022 during presidential elections. (Photo by Janos Kummer\/Getty Images)\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/hungarys-freedom-election\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/hungarys-freedom-election\/\",\"name\":\"Hungary\u2019s freedom election | The Strategist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/hungarys-freedom-election\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-21T00:00:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-21T01:36:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/7310799f467f1d01a552b8c13b208fb7\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/hungarys-freedom-election\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/hungarys-freedom-election\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/hungarys-freedom-election\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Hungary\u2019s freedom election\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/7310799f467f1d01a552b8c13b208fb7\",\"name\":\"Kati Marton\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9043bb7effe25dcf99008087175e6241?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9043bb7effe25dcf99008087175e6241?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kati Marton\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/kati-marton\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Hungary\u2019s freedom election | The Strategist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/hungarys-freedom-election\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Hungary\u2019s freedom election | The Strategist","og_description":"When Hungarians go to the polls in April, liberal democracy will be on the ballot\u2014and not only in Hungary. Former US President Donald Trump is promoting the populist prime minister, Viktor Orban. Tucker Carlson, Fox ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/hungarys-freedom-election\/","og_site_name":"The Strategist","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org","article_published_time":"2022-02-21T00:00:35+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-02-21T01:36:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":925,"height":617,"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-1348277312-e1645397028429.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kati Marton","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ASPI_org","twitter_site":"@ASPI_org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kati Marton","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/","name":"The Strategist","description":"ASPI's analysis and commentary site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/hungarys-freedom-election\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-1348277312-e1645397028429.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-1348277312-e1645397028429.jpg","width":925,"height":617,"caption":"BUDAPEST, HUNGARY - OCTOBER 23: Viktor Orban, Hungary's prime minister delivers his speech during a peace march on October 23, 2021 in Budapest, Hungary. The new Hungarian opposition leader Peter Marki-Zay, the surprise winner of the primaries, intends to shake up the political scene to overthrow Hungary's President Viktor Orban of the Fidesz party in April 2022 during presidential elections. (Photo by Janos Kummer\/Getty Images)"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/hungarys-freedom-election\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/hungarys-freedom-election\/","name":"Hungary\u2019s freedom election | The Strategist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/hungarys-freedom-election\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2022-02-21T00:00:35+00:00","dateModified":"2022-02-21T01:36:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/7310799f467f1d01a552b8c13b208fb7"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/hungarys-freedom-election\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/hungarys-freedom-election\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/hungarys-freedom-election\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Hungary\u2019s freedom election"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/7310799f467f1d01a552b8c13b208fb7","name":"Kati Marton","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9043bb7effe25dcf99008087175e6241?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9043bb7effe25dcf99008087175e6241?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kati Marton"},"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/kati-marton\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70610"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1497"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70610"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70610\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70617,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70610\/revisions\/70617"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}