This Is the Super-scandal that Should Bring Down Viktor Orbán – and It’s Far from Over

THE GUARDIAN: Hungary’s president quit over the fallout of a child abuse case, but the ‘pro-family’ prime minister still has questions to answer

Screenshot from the Guardian | Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán at a press conference in Budapest, December 2023. | Photograph: Denes Erdos/AP
After nearly 14 years running Hungary, Viktor Orbán’s regime is crumbling under the weight of its own hypocrisies. The country’s president, Katalin Novák, a close Orbán ally, was forced to resign in disgrace earlier this month for issuing a pardon to a man convicted of helping cover up a sex abuse case at a children’s home. The former justice minister, Judit Varga, who approved the decision, also quit. This followed a tumultuous week of public outcry and protests in Budapest.

The scandal has not only rocked Orbán’s autocratic government to its core, it has laid bare the phoney nature of his self-declared Christian, family-values agenda. It has also exposed what little power even high-ranking political figures wield under Orbán’s de facto one-person rule: at the drop of a hat, he appears ready to dispose of close allies, even the supposedly independent president of the republic, to avoid accountability himself. » | Katalin Cseh | Saturday, February 17, 2024

EU Agrees on €50 Billion Ukraine Aid Package | DW News

Feb 1, 2024 | Just one hour into the EU's special summit, EU leaders managed to reach a deal that will allow the bloc to send €50 billion ($54 billion) in funding to Ukraine over the next four years, according to European Council President Charles Michel.

The deal had been blocked by Hungary since the previous leaders' summit in Brussels in mid-December. "We have a deal," Michel wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "This locks in steadfast, long-term, predictable funding for Ukraine."

Anne Applebaum: Orbán Evidence of What a Determined, Anti-democratic Figure Can Do

Dec 19, 2023 | The Atlantic's Anne Applebaum discusses Hungary's PM Viktor Orbán blocking the EU's plan for further aid to Ukraine.

Orbán should be kicked out of the EU. Hungarians belong in the EU, but not under Orbán’s leadership. Orbán is one of Putin’s stooges. – © Mark Alexander

UE : Frieden a fait face au dissident Orban

LE QUOTIDIEN: Quelques heures à peine après la décision «historique» de s’ouvrir à l’Ukraine, prise sans la Hongrie, Viktor Orban est venu bloquer le paquet financier de 50 milliards d’euros destiné à Kiev. Le Premier ministre luxembourgeois connaît désormais l’enfant terrible du Conseil européen, qui agit seul contre tous.

Pour sa grande première au Conseil européen, réunissant les 27 chefs d’État et de gouvernement de l’UE, le nouveau Premier ministre luxembourgeois n’a pas eu le temps de tergiverser. «Ce fut un sommet particulier, parce que l’on était amenés à prendre une décision stratégique très importante, qui va trouver place dans les livres d’histoire», avance Luc Frieden, au bout de deux jours et demi d’intenses tractations à Bruxelles, lancées dès mercredi soir lors du sommet avec les Balkans occidentaux.

La décision «historique» est bien la validation de l’ouverture de négociations d’adhésion avec l’Ukraine, mais aussi avec la Moldavie. Les circonstances dans lesquelles ce feu vert a été accordé vont aussi marquer l’histoire européenne. Sur proposition du chancelier allemand, Olaf Scholz, le Premier ministre hongrois, Viktor Orban, a en effet quitté la salle du Conseil pour libérer la voie à un consensus qualifié par Luc Frieden de «leçon pour Poutine» et d’un message «pour montrer que nous ne laissons pas l’Ukraine seule». » | De David Marques | samedi 16 décembre 2023

Putin Makes Emboldened Speech - as EU Opens Ukraine Accession Talks | Russia-Ukraine War

Dec 14, 2023 | EU leaders have agreed to open membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova. Hungary's prime minister - Putin ally Viktor Orban - wasn't in the room when the EU voted and said he did not wish to participate in the "bad decision".

European Leaders Seethe over Putin-Orbán Meeting

GUARDIAN EUROPE: Czech president calls on western capitals not to fall for Russian leader’s tactic to break European unity

Viktor Orbán (left) and Vladimir Putin shake hands on Tuesday before their meeting as part of the Chinese belt and road forum in Beijing. Photograph: Grigory Sysoev/Sputnik/Kremlin/EPA
European leaders must not “fall” for the tactics of Vladimir Putin, the Czech president, Petr Pavel, has said, two days after Hungary’s prime minister shook hands with Russia’s leader.

Viktor Orbán, in a rare move for the leader of a country that belongs to the EU and Nato, met Putin in Beijing on Tuesday for what the Hungarian leader’s office described as a discussion on energy cooperation and peace.

Hungary has long been criticised for democratic backsliding at home and its Russia- and China-friendly policies abroad.

Its foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, routinely visits Moscow. And in a move that has frustrated its allies, Hungary – along with Turkey – has yet to ratify Sweden’s application for Nato membership. » | Lili Bayer in Brussels | Friday, Octoner 20, 2023

Ungarn soll ausländische Firmen aus der EU benachteiligen | DW Nachrichten

Oct 3, 2023 | Ausländische Unternehmen in bestimmten Branchen wird das Geschäft in Ungarn sehr schwer gemacht. Ministerpräsident Orbán und seine Regierung machen das systematisch, sagt die Opposition im ungarischen Parlament.

Hungary’s Far-right PM Calls for Trump’s Return: ‘Come Back, Mr President’

THE GUARDIAN: Viktor Orbán, addressing European CPAC summit, attacks liberalism as a ‘virus’ and says his country is model for world

Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian prime minister, delivers the keynote speech in Budapest on Thursday. Photograph: Szilárd Koszticsák/EPA
The Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán has called for Donald Trump’s return to office, claiming their shared brand of hard-right populism is on the rise around the world, in a speech to US Republicans and their European allies in Budapest.

Orbán was addressing the second annual meeting of the US Conservative Political Action Coalition (CPAC) in the Hungarian capital, aimed at cementing radical rightwing ties across the Atlantic. He said that conservatives have “occupied big European sanctuaries”, which he listed as Budapest, Warsaw, Rome and Jerusalem. He added that Vienna “is also not hopeless” .

He noted that Washington and Brussels were still in the grip of liberalism, which he described as a “virus that will atomize and disintegrate our nations”. » | Flora Garamvolgyi in Budapest | Thursday, May 4, 2023

The very last thing this world needs now is another term of office with Donal Trump at the helm. Perish the thought! – Mark

Korruption in Ungarn: Europäische Union friert Milliardengelder ein | DW Nachrichten

Dec 13, 2022 | Der Rechtsstaat in Ungarn ist wegen Korruption in Gefahr, befindet die EU und kürzt dem Mitgliedsland erstmals Gelder. Die Botschafter der EU-Staaten haben in einer nächtlichen Sitzung beschlossen, 6,3 Milliarden Euro der geplanten 22 Milliarden aus dem Kohäsionsfonds zur Angleichung der Lebensverhältnisse in den Jahren 2023 bis 2027 zurückzuhalten. Die EU-Kommission hatte eigentlich eine Summe von 7,5 Milliarden zurückhalten wollen, was etwa einem Drittel der bislang eingeplanten Auszahlungen entspricht. Zwei Drittel sind also von dem Verfahren nicht berührt.

Hello Dictator I ARTE.tv Documentary

Since the summer of 2020 a battle has raged between the European Union and Viktor Orbán’s Hungary. As Orbán’s authoritarian Fidesz party restrains opposition at home, the EU attempts to link the pandemic recovery package to a rule of law mechanism. Hungary and Poland are strongly opposed. | Victor Orbán Versus Europe | Available until the 27/03/2024

WTF! There are so many dangerous politicians around these days! – © Mark Alexander

Volksbefragung über Russland-Sanktionen: Viktor Orban versucht die EU erneut zu erpressen: Die ungarische Regierung lässt das Volk über die Strafmassnahmen gegen Russland abstimmen. Dabei geht es Orban darum, die EU in Verhandlungen über Finanzmittel unter Druck zu setzen. »

The Lincoln Project: CPAC Texas Day 1

Aug 5, 2022 CPAC Texas Day 1 in 90 seconds. The Lincoln Project is a leading pro-democracy organization in the United States — dedicated to the preservation, protection, and defense of democracy. Our fight against Trumpism is only beginning. We must combat these forces everywhere and at all times — our democracy depends on it.

Hi Y’all! Don’t forget, we’re all gonna be seein’ Jeezuz together! – Mark

The Lincoln Project: Alike

Aug 6, 2022 Nazi ideals have resurfaced in America under the guise of the Republican Party. It is our turn to fight them as our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents once did.

Hungary PM Viktor Orbán Addresses CPAC as American Right Embraces His Authoritarian Rule

Aug 4, 2022 We speak with international affairs scholar Kim Lane Scheppele on the rise and fall of Hungary's constitutional democracy and how Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has gained popularity among the American right ahead of his speech today at the Conservative Political Action Conference. "Orbán presents, especially for the American right, a kind of irresistible combination of culture war issues," says Lane Scheppele. "These culture war issues in Hungary disguise the fact that underneath the surface Orbán has been changing the laws of the country so that gradually he has shut down all of the independent institutions that might tell him no." She says U.S. Republicans are now engaging in a very "Orbán-like" campaign to rig elections so they win regardless of the popular vote.

Hungary PM Viktor Orbán rallies US conservatives to fight for ‘less drag queens, more Chuck Norris’: Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán has remarked the world needs fewer drag queens and “more rangers” in a keynote address at the Conservative Political Action Conference in the US. »

Why American Conservatives Love Viktor Orban: What was the prime minister of Hungary doing addressing a crowd of Republicans in Dallas? »

Alarm Grows as Orbán Prepares to Take ‘Pure Nazi’ Rhetoric to US

THE OBSERVER: Hungarian leader’s aide who quit over ‘race mixing’ remarks said his words have a chilling potential

Viktor Orbán appeared to backtrack on his comments last week, saying it was ‘a cultural problem’. Photograph: Michael Gruber/Getty Images
A longstanding adviser to Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán who resigned last week has warned him that his far-right rhetoric could have tragic consequences.

The Hungarian leader sparked a backlash at home and abroad with a recent speech in which he spoke out against “race mixing”. Soon after, Zsuzsa Hegedüs, a sociologist who has known Orbán for 20 years, handed in her resignation, criticising the prime minister for what she called a “pure Nazi” speech.

“I am a Jew. And our generation’s job is to stop anything like this because we have seen what happened. Not just with Jews. In Rwanda as well. Ethnic hatred leads to genocide,” said Hegedüs in an interview with the Observer.

Orbán’s speech came at a showpiece annual gathering in Romania last weekend, which the Hungarian leader often uses to make important announcements. During his speech, he said mixing between Europeans was acceptable, but Europeans mixing with non-Europeans created “mixed race” people.

“We are willing to mix with one another, but we do not want to become peoples of mixed race,” said Orbán. He added that western European countries where this was seen as acceptable are “no longer nations”. » | Flora Garamvolgyi and Shaun Walker in Budapest | Saturday, July 30, 2022

Orbán wettert gegen „Brüssel“ und Soros

Viktor Orbán im Mai in Budapest | Bild: REUTERS
REDE IN RUMÄNIEN
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Die Kraft des Westens sei im Schwinden begriffen, sagt der ungarische Ministerpräsident bei seiner jährlichen Rede in Rumänien. Er gibt auch vor zu wissen, wer daran Schuld sei.

Der ungarische Ministerpräsident Viktor Orbán sieht sich im Kampf mit dem Westen, der seinem Land eine falsche Sanktionspolitik und fremde Werte aufzwingen wolle. „Die Kraft, die Leistung, das Ansehen und die Handlungsfähigkeit der westlichen Zivilisation sind im Schwinden begriffen“, erklärte der rechtsnationale Politiker am Samstag vor Tausenden Anhängern im rumänischen Kurort Baile Tusnad.

Orbán regiert seit 2010 in dem EU-Land Ungarn. Wegen des Abbaus von Demokratie und Rechtsstaatlichkeit steht Orbán mit der Europäischen Union in Konflikt. Gegen Ungarn laufen derzeit mehrere Verfahren, darunter eines im Rahmen des neuen Rechtsstaatsmechanismus, das zum Entzug von EU-Fördermitteln führen kann. » | Quelle: dpa | Samstag, 23. Juli 2022

Luxembourg PM’s Same-sex Husband Seated Next to Viktor Orbán at Summit

THE GUARDIAN: Hungarian leader was criticised by Xavier Bettel in 2021 for introducing homophobic law

Nato leaders’ spouses including Gauthier Destenay (centre), husband of Luxembourg’s PM, in Madrid. Photograph: Ballesteros/EPA
The dozens of invitees were carefully seated along the lengthy table, flanked by columns fashioned out of Bagnères marble and surrounded by paintings from Spain’s Francisco de Goya.

As photos of the Nato dinner at Spain’s royal palace filtered out, many were swift to spot what one Spanish news site described as the image of the summit: the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, seated next to Gauthier Destenay, the first same-sex spouse of a leader of an EU member state.

Amid speculation as to whether the seating arrangement was intentional – perhaps a nod to this month’s Pride celebrations – or whether it was simply the mysterious hand of protocol working its magic, Spain’s royal palace did not respond to a request for comment.

The eye-catching seating arrangement came one year after Destenay’s husband, Luxembourg’s prime minister, Xavier Bettel, blasted Orbán over a Hungarian law banning any portrayal of LGBT people in materials meant for children.

“To be nationally blamed, to be considered as not normal, to be considered a danger for young people – it’s not realising that being gay is not a choice,” said Bettel, who in 2015 became the first EU leader to marry someone of the same sex.

“But being intolerant is a choice,” Bettel continued. » | Ashifa Kassam in Madrid | Thursday, June 30, 2022

The Guardian View on Viktor Orbán’s Brussels Bashing: A Reckoning Must Come

THE GUARDIAN – EDITORIAL: The contempt shown by Hungary’s prime minister for EU norms requires a response

‘Mr Orbán has made domestic political capital from waging a culture war against Brussels.’Photograph: EPA
In recent years, as Viktor Orbán has consolidated his hold over Hungary’s body politic, he has acquired a cult following on America’s Republican right. That status was confirmed last week when US conservatives staged a special conference in Budapest, the centrepiece of which was an address by the newly re-elected prime minister. Speaking to the conference theme of “God, homeland, family”, the self-styled standard bearer for “illiberal democracy” did not hold back. Delegates were told that “ideologically trained bureaucrats” in Washington and Brussels – in cahoots with progressive liberals and “neo-Marxists” – were seeking to undermine traditional western values. Mr Orbán then outlined the strategy taken in Hungary to eradicate this threat. “The first point in the Hungarian formula,” he said, “is to play by our own rules.”

In that spirit, Mr Orbán’s Hungary has flouted the democratic norms of European Union membership for years. On issues relating to corruption, the independence of the media, asylum and LGBTQ+ rights, Budapest has flatly ignored EU objections to its actions. Mr Orbán has made domestic political capital from waging a culture war against Brussels, even as Hungary accessed billions of pounds worth of EU regional aid. As he trolls the EU ever more brazenly from within and gives masterclasses to America’s “alt-right”, what can Brussels do about it? » | Editorial | Monday, May 23, 2022

Bruxelles s'inquiète de "nouvelles détériorations" de l'Etat de droit en Hongrie, dont la loi anti-LGBT : Le commissaire européen à la Justice Didier Reynders a cité la loi hongroise interdisant d'évoquer auprès des mineurs "le changement de sexe et l'homosexualité", dénonçant son caractère discriminatoire à l'égard de la communauté LGBTI+. »

Tucker Carlson Under Fire for Fawning over Authoritarian Leader, Touting Hungary as Model for US

May 24, 2022 • The most influential conservative gathering on the right, CPAC, was recently held in Budapest, Hungary. Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who has fawned over Hungary’s authoritarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in past interviews, addressed the gathering, telling attendees the country’s ethno-nationalist regime offers a “better way” for America. MSNBC’s Ari Melber reports on the GOP’s embrace of “foreign exceptionalism” and the party’s decision to abandon policy.

Ungarn: Der Fall Orbán | ARTE Info Plus

May 7, 2022 • Viktor Orbán war einst liberal. Heute kennt man ihn als autoritären Regierungschef Ungarns. Erstmals gewählt wurde er 1998, und dann, seit 2010, immer wieder neu. Über 12 Jahre hat Orbán eine gewisse Machtpraxis entwickelt. Europa wirft ihm grassierende Korruption und autoritäre Auswüchse vor. Die EU zeigte sich lange ohnmächtig, plant nun aber finanzielle Sanktionen. Wir schauen uns den "Fall Orbán“ genauer an.

Voici la même vidéo en français.

Hungary Opposes EU's Russian Oil Ban Plan 'In This Form' • France 24 English

May 4, 2022 • Hungary warned on Wednesday that it cannot support the proposed EU ban on Russian oil in its current form as it would "completely destroy" its energy supply security. FRANCE 24's Florence La Bruyère reports from Budapest, Hungary.