Hungary has been in the headlines for quite some time for its illiberal, populist, anti-democratic and in many respects authoritarian government. But since the local government elections on the 13 October resulted in the governing Fidesz-KDNP coalition losing the capital city of Budapest and many more big cities, the international media and political observers are looking at the country with renewed interest.
Populists everywhere use polarising political rhetoric and policies; and they do it to gain and maintain political power—often quite successfully. Analysis has often asserted that Fidesz’s political success – winning four parliamentary elections since 1989, including winning a two-thirds majority on three occasions – is largely due to its political strategy of constantly being in war with the enemies that they themselves create. The enemies can be internal or external, but they are always the enemies of the Hungarian nation conspiring to destroy the country’s loyal citizenry.
This political stratagem has led to a stark polarisation of the Hungarian population: if you are not a Fidesz supporter you are an enemy of the nation, an agent of foreign forces. Within this context, civil society actors also became an enemy, especially those who work to mitigate racism and extremism, and want to reinforce democratic values, human rights, critical thinking, dialogue and partnership. These words represent values that are missing from the vocabulary of the government and more than that, anyone using them is suspicious and labelled as a liberal, a left-winger, a communist, a foreign agent, or some other derogatory epithet.
