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.

[Tamas]

Here is a quick example, Peter Magyar posed for a photo next to a poster depicting him as an evil Two Face: one half in a traditional Hungarian vest, the other half (gasp!) covered in an EU flag and sporting a Ukrainian one as well (this is supposed to show him as evil):

[Sophie Scholl]

It would be such a powerful message to the world if Fidesz got trounced thoroughly. I'm wondering if maybe they're just putting the effort you mention up as a front while they pillage everything they can access and send it offshore?

[Tamas]

It would be such a powerful message to the world if Fidesz got trounced thoroughly. I'm wondering if maybe they're just putting the effort you mention up as a front while they pillage everything they can access and send it offshore?

Oh yeah they have been stepping up the pillaging but it is hard to notice as it's been going on a massive scale already for a decade.

[Tamas]

In the latest piece of fear mongering the government is saying there is a risk of Ukrainian military strikes against Hungarian energy infrastructure (as in, within Hungary) the Defense Minister said the military is "mapping out the domestic energy infrastructure" in "preparation of deploying air defenses"

Peter Magyar already said what everyone is thinking: this can be a preparation for a false flag operation.

[HVC]

Is Ukraine one of the countries Hungarians think stole their land so were already hated, or is this purely a Putin funded dislike?

[Valmy]

Is Ukraine one of the countries Hungarians think stole their land so were already hated, or is this purely a Putin funded dislike?

Here is your guide to who Hungary hates:



See that little bit at the tip of Czechoslavakia? Hungary took it after Germany ate the Czechlands:



This bit went to the Ukrainian SSR after WWII:



So there is a tiny bit of western Ukraine that was once part of Hungary. Do they still want it? Eh...I think this is mostly on behalf of Russia, I haven't heard Hungary demanding that part back. But maybe Tamas can correct me.

[Tamas]

Is Ukraine one of the countries Hungarians think stole their land so were already hated, or is this purely a Putin funded dislike?

There is a portion of old Hungary owned by them yes but it's the least significant of them all. There is no meaningful history of Ukraine hatred since the last few years when the propaganda started, and I am not sure how much of it actually exists in the populace.

[HVC]

Thanks to you both.

I often forget how much Trianon carved up Hungary. But I guess it's fair, live by the ethnic self determination sword die by the ethnic self determination sword.

[Valmy]

Thanks to you both.

I often forget how much Trianon carved up Hungary. But I guess it's fair, live by the ethnic self determination sword die by the ethnic self determination sword.

Don't have a big multi-ethnic state and then lose a war where the peace is going to be based on self-determination. And maybe don't then become a communist state when all the capitalist states are deciding who gets what.

Kind of a perfect storm of bad decisions and bad luck for Hungary. But to be fair having horrible luck and making terrible choices is one of Hungary's national traditions.