The meeting between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Russian President Vladimir Putin on October 17 in China is embarrassing Europe. To legitimize his radical policy which earned him ostracism from the EU, Viktor Orban brandishes numerous conspiracy theories.
The handshake between Viktor Orban and Vladimir Putin on October 17 on the sidelines of the New Silk Roads forum in Beijing has difficulty getting across to Europe, in the midst of the war in Ukraine. If the Hungarian Prime Minister assures that he wants to maintain contact with the Kremlin to promote a peace agreement, this proximity is worrying.
Viktor Orban is increasingly isolated in Europe, ostracized in particular for his radical politics. To try to legitimize this ultra-conservative policy, he does not hesitate to brandish conspiracy theories, such as the “great replacement”, the LGBT+ lobby or even anti-Semitism.
A populist leader
Having first come to power in 1998, before returning in 2010, Viktor Orban is today a figure of populism. “Conspiracy provides a sort of argumentative stock from which populist discourse can draw according to its needs“, explains Rudy Reichstadt. Conspiracy and populism have points in common: “demonization of elites“, the idea of having”two camps clashing“and capitalizing on”anxiety [des populations] to plan for the future“, lists Rudy Reichstadt.
Conspiracy theories widespread in Hungary
Conspiracy seems to permeate a large part of the Hungarian population. Tristan Mendès France notably highlights a YouGov survey carried out in 2021, according to which “17% of Hungarians believe that humans have never been to the Moon, compared to 9% in France“.
“Viktor Orban is the only current European leader to speak explicitly of the Great Replacement with conspiratorial overtones”
Viktor Orban raises two major conspiratorial themes: the LGBT+ lobby which he accuses of “wanting to destroy the Christian family unit” and the population exchanges orchestrated according to him by the European Union, observes Tristan Mendès France. In 2022, during a speech held at the Bale Tusnad summer university, in Romania, the Hungarian Prime Minister made the controversy by affirming that the Hungarians “do not want be a mixed race” which would mix with “non-Europeans”.
George Soros, scapegoat of Hungarian conspiracy theorists
Among the favorite targets of Viktor Orban and conspiracy theorists is the Jewish billionaire of Hungarian origin George Soros. This businessman, now 93 years old, “checks all the boxes allowing him to be a support for fantasy projections for conspiracy theorists”, notes Rudy Reichstadt. Tristan Mendès France notably mentions the “Stop-Soros” law adopted in June 2018 penalizing aid to migrants in Hungary.
In this episode, we also look back at the anti-Semitism which seems to be gradually permeating the Hungarian population and at the place that Viktor Orban takes in the international complosphere.
“Hungary: conspiracy in the era of Viktor Orban”, this is the 55th episode of Complorama with Rudy Reichstadt, director of Conspiracy Watch, and Tristan Mendès France, lecturer and member of the conspiracy observatory, specialist in digital cultures. A podcast to be found on the franceinfo website, the Radio France application and several other platforms such as Apple podcasts, Podcast Addict, Spotify, or Deezer.