Hungarian Politics

[Tamas]

So one news is that Orban just visited Trump and got full exemption from American sanctions on Russian oil.

A much graver news concerns internal politics. Peter Magyar's party (Tisza) launched a mobile app not too long ago to share news etc but also they wanted to utilise this to elect their MP candidates.

A week or so ago pro-government press broke the news that this app has been hacked and over 200 thousand people's personal data (name, address, date of birth) has been leaked. Several pro-government "media" started harassing people on the list. Not just public personas but regular people.

And today somebody launched a searchable online database with an interactive map (and it got reported and linked by all the major pro-government online news sites) so if you want to see who from your village/town registered on the Tisza app, you can do so.

In a semi-feudal system like Hungary this can have grave consequences for people. The poorer they are the less they can afford to be seen as anti-Fidesz by the local lord (mayor, employers).

And the election will be in April. Things will turn ugly.

I still can't wrap my head around how Hungary (well, Orban) managed to tie up every media outlet and make them wag their tails in unison.

It was two things: absolute majority, and insane amount of funds embezzled from EU grants.

[Valmy]

Is this fucking election ever going to happen? This is starting to feel like an American Presidential election 

[Tamas]

12th of April. If it wasn't a Russia-style system, the only remaining question would be whether Tisza (Peter Magyar's party) gets a 2/3rd majority or just a simple one. The polls are clear and the vibe around the country is also clear.


Fidesz is... I don't know it feels odd.

At one hand, they are predictably going further and further in using the only tool they have used since 2015: fear. The latest low point is an AI-generated "public announcement" clip where a little girl witnesses her father -in a Hungarian military uniform- being summarily executed among some city ruins by an nondescript soldier wearing a WW2 Wehrmacht-ish uniform (no doubt courtesy of the AI prompt). With the message that if Orban falls this is the future awaiting the country.

What is weird to me is that, they don't seem to panic yet? Sure, there must be pressure on them because gaffes come more frequently. But I imagined that at this point in time, at this position in the polls, there would be... more of something. Although, again, don't get me wrong, anti-Tisza propaganda is being thrown non-stop on all channels, disguised as public information and "independent" media investigations.

I wonder if this is just incompetence, of them just knowing what else to do then dial their decade-old script to 11 and hope for the best. Or if they are just good at hiding the utter panic they should be in considering all the things that can happen to the rank and file in case of a rout. Or there is already a deal in the background on protecting their wealth and power in a Tisza-led system. Or they know the Russian secret service is coming to the rescue with a false flag.

I don't know.