Provocations, shocking remarks, rejection of the other, Viktor Orban is a regular. Since taking power in Hungary, the populist has made no secret of his hatred of foreigners and his disgust with societies “multi-ethnic”.
>> War in Ukraine: strong in Hungary, Viktor Orban more isolated than ever in Europe
But last weekend he went even further. While traveling in Romanian Transylvania, he said: “We don’t want to be a mixed race” which would mix with “non-Europeans”. When “European and extra-European peoples live side by side”it is no longer a “nation” but one “conglomeration of peoples”. The nationalist leader also alludes to the gas chambers, dangerously ironic about the fact that there are “german know-how” in the matter.
Very rare under the Orban era, one of his close advisers resigned. Zsuzsa Hegedüs, sociologist, was nevertheless a faithful of Orban, accompanying him for 20 years. But the terms used by the Prime Minister went too far, especially the word “breed”, which Orban had not used until now. It’s a “shameful position” for the councilor who denounces a “pure Nazi text worthy of Goebbels”the former propaganda chief of Nazi Germany.
The Hungarian opposition castigates a speech “irrelevant unworthy of a European statesman”. The International Auschwitz Committee talks about a speech “stupid and dangerous“. And the European Commission did not react firmly, contenting itself with saying that it “did not comment on comments made by European politicians”.
Is it a skid? No, for Paul Gradvohl, professor at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, director of the Center for Research on the History of Contemporary Central Europe (CRHECC): “Orban is making a very clear bet: democracy is over, we are moving towards authoritarianism and we need strong leaders”. With such remarks, he speaks to Putin, Xi Jinping, and Trump – who is thinking of running for the American presidency in 2024 –. “Besides, Orban will be going to the United States in a few weeks to support the pro-Trump conservatives for the mid-terms”notes the expert.
In the war in Ukraine, Orban has chosen his side: Russia. He wants to continue to get supplies of Russian gas. The head of Hungarian diplomacy, Peter Szijjartó, went to Russia last week, to meet his Russian counterpart and to negotiate 700 million m3 of additional gas, while the rest of Europe is trying to unite not to supply itself from Cheese fries. There is also, perhaps, an internal explanation. For several weeks, Hungary has been shaken by strikes and demonstrations against a tax reform, imposed by Orban’s party. “This reform explains Paul Gradvohl, makes the life of the self-employed much more difficult and strengthens the regime’s capacity for corruption”.
The tax reform considerably complicates the administrative procedures and increases the taxes of the self-employed. The goal of the populist leader? “Control society, and submit the independents”. The month of August promises to be just as complicated with the start of austerity measures, Europe having reduced its funding as long as the rule of law is not respected.