Hungarian election: Will Europe's far-right help Orban win?

The turnout to what was billed as the "Patriots' Grand Assembly" in Hungary wasn't exactly overwhelming. Despite the presence of some of Europe's best-known far-right politicians, only around 2,000 people gathered in Budapest’s Millenaris Park last Monday afternoon.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban appeared alongside other prominent leaders from the ranks of European populist and far-right movements, including Geert Wilders from the Netherlands, Marine Le Pen from France and Santiago Abascal of Spain. The crowd seemed mostly made up of older supporters of Orban's Fidesz party.

An elderly woman who lived in the US for a long time and recently returned to Hungary told DW: "I want Fidesz and peace to prevail." Another participant explained she was there because, "I am a Hungarian, peace-loving Christian and I stand for conservative values."

Orban’s prominent guests delivered eulogies to Hungary’s prime minister that bordered on a personality cult. Wilders called him a "lion," Italy's Matteo Salvini praised him as a "true hero" and Austria's Herbert Kickl said in a video message that Orban was the "only one who can see among the blind in Brussels."

Orban himself delivered an uninspired speech full of the cliches he has become known for. Once again, he promised that "patriotic forces will take Brussels." He told the audience that EU countries led by liberal-progressive governments are sliding further into economic and social ruin, while Hungary, under his leadership, is thriving with a booming economy.

In his speech, there were parallels to those of former communist dictators, who proclaimed victories over capitalism as their countries sank deeper into desolation and misery — a situation that exists in many parts of the Hungarian countryside.

Fidesz lags behind the opposition

"Events like this are a communication offensive tailored to the pre-election period," says political scientist Bulcsu Hunyadi, head of research at the Political Capital consultancy in Budapest. "They are meant to demonstrate how many international allies Viktor Orban has and portray him as a significant player in global politics. But if you look closely, they only reach an audience that is already sympathetic to Orban."

On Saturday, Orban had taken the stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference, commonly known as CPAC Hungary, where he gave a similar performance. At both events, the prime minister came across as an aging autocrat who is running out of ideas but stubbornly clings to power.

In fact, Orban is in serious trouble ahead of the parliamentary election on April 12. The Hungarian government is diverting all available state financial resources and even personnel from the state apparatus to the election campaign — which is not legal. Orban's party, the Hungarian Civic Alliance or Fidesz, still trails the opposition party Tisza, or the Respect and Freedom Party, by a wide margin in the polls.

Corruption and scandal

Orban has tailored his election campaign entirely around the bogeymen of Ukraine and the European Union with the theme of "war or peace." But domestically, he is hampered by corruption and environmental scandals, as well as the question of just how much he, the self-proclaimed "sovereignist," is under Russia's thumb.

The latest corruption scandal centers on former National Bank chief, Gyorgy Matolcsy. Years ago, he had the National Bank of Hungary, or MNB, building in Budapest luxuriously renovated, at a cost of roughly €275 million ($319 million). Among other things, Matolcsy had a deluxe bathroom built for himself out of gold and black marble, complete with golden toilet brushes and golden toilet paper holders.

The Matolcsy family and the National Bank have been making headlines for years. The former MNB president was revealed to have funneled public funds into a complex scheme, which Matolcsy’s son Adam and his circle of friends used to finance their lavish lifestyle. The latest scandal surrounding the MNB building renovation came to light because the independent media outlet, 444.hu, won a long legal battle to have relevant documents released. The golden toilet brush has become a symbol of the decadence and arrogance of the Orban elite.

At the same time, a scandal about a battery factory north of Budapest also continues to stir public outrage in Hungary. There Samsung had violated environmental regulations for years and exposed workers to toxic heavy-metal dust. Although the government was aware of this, it took no action.

Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto is even said to have prevented the factory from being sanctioned. For many Hungarians, this only reinforces impressions of an elite that seeks to enrich itself at the cost of citizens' health and the environment.

Close ties to the Kremlin

In addition, there is the growing controversy about Russian influence during the Hungarian election campaign and on the country's government. Investigative journalist Szabolcs Panyi published a transcript of a 2020 conversation between Foreign Minister Szijjarto and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, in which Szijjarto submissively asks for campaign assistance for populist and far-right nationalist parties in Hungary’s neighbor, Slovakia.

A few days ago, it emerged that Szijjarto had been calling Moscow regularly during European Council meetings in Brussels, in order to brief the Kremlin leadership. Szijjarto himself has since admitted to the conversations but described them as standard diplomatic practice. Still, this is a stark contrast to the "sovereignty" the Orban government often emphasizes. It often denigrates political opponents as paid puppets of foreign powers who undermine Hungary’s sovereignty.

That's why the "Patriots' Grand Assembly"— the event was named after the nationalists' political group in the European parliament — also rubbed some Budapest residents the wrong way.

On Szell Kalman Square, just a few hundred meters from Millenaris Park, many passersby hadn’t even heard of the gathering. But others expressed outrage. Dani, a young man in his mid-twenties, called the event "pathetic." The string of recent scandals had undermined the nationalists' reputations, he said.

"The fact they still think it’s convincing to play the role of the great Hungarian is unpleasant," he concluded. 

This article was originally published in German.