By Markus Salzmann
21 December 2019
21 December 2019
Last week, the Hungarian
parliament, dominated by the right-wing Fidesz party, passed a number of
controversial bills that represent a further step towards dictatorial forms of
rule. Among the bills passed is a Culture Law, which recalls the darkest
chapters in European history. The law effectively gives the government the
ability to censor any form of culture it deems unfavourable.
The 200-page bill, also known
as the “Muzzle Law,” permits the chairman of parliament to impose heavy fines
on deputies or exclude them from sittings if they protest in parliament. The
powers are very broad and allow Fidesz to impose financial sanctions making any
effective opposition virtually impossible. The law also includes a de facto ban
on the right to form political factions.
Hungarian Prime Minister
Victor Orbán has pursued these goals since assuming power in 2010, despite its
already firm grip on power, with a completely fragmented social democratic
opposition and the fascist Jobbik party, which often lines up with Fidesz.
Following a series of changes to procedural rules, the power of the ruling
party has been further strengthened. At the same time, the official opposition
has been stripped of any ability to block legislative proposals.
A driving force in these
attacks on parliamentary and democratic rights is the president of the
parliament, László Kövér. Kövér is a founding member of Fidesz, an avowed
anti-Semite and an admirer of Adolf Hitler’s closest Hungarian ally during
World War II, Miklos Horthy. In 2012, Kövér took part in events honouring the
writer József Nyírö. Nyírö was the central cultural ideologue of the National
Socialist Arrow Cross, under whose rule tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews
were murdered between October 1944 and March 1945.
With its new Culture Law, the
government is making clear it will not tolerate any opposition, even on a
cultural level. According to the government, the bill will guarantee “the
strategic control of cultural sectors by the government.” A draft published at
the beginning of December included the abolition of the national cultural fund
and the slashing of government grants for independent cultural institutions. In
future subsidies are to be directly linked to the government’s ability to
determine the appointment of theatre directors.
The new law triggered
large-scale protests by artists and those working in the field of culture,
forcing the government to moderate its draft somewhat. Just a few days after
the draft was published, 50,000 people signed a petition opposing the law. In
the country’s capital, Budapest, several thousand people recently demonstrated
with posters reading: “Pigs, hands off the theatres!” The Reuters news agency
quoted a retired bus driver taking part in the protests as saying, “I am a
democrat and this is yet another step to steal another sphere of public life:
this time theatres.”
The cultural fund is to be
retained in the meantime, but when theatres request grants, the government can
not only decide on the payment of any subsidies, but also have a say in the
choice of director. At the same time, the National Cultural Council—a body set
up by the government—will issue guidelines on culture. One can imagine the
character of such guidelines, bearing in mind that fascist artists and
intellectuals like Nyírö have been rehabilitated under Orban in recent years
and their works made compulsory reading in Hungarian schools.
Orbán is clearly planning
further authoritarian measures. “We cannot be sure with this government whether
a stricter law will not come in a few weeks or months,” commented Martin
Boross, artistic director of the independent Stereoakt theatre, to the German
media outlet Deutsche Welle. “It is a proven strategy of the government to
wait until the situation has calmed down before adopting even more serious
legislative changes.”
Orbán justified the latest
restrictions by saying that they reflected the will of the electorate. In fact,
the opposite is true. The law is partly a reaction to the local elections in
October when Fidesz suffered significant defeats. The opposition made gains in
several areas and in particular won the capital of Budapest, which is
significant in terms of federal policy. In a number of cities and
municipalities, opposition parties had formed alliances and were able to top
the polls. According to the new legislation this will no longer be possible.
First and foremost, however
the law is not directed against the toothless opposition, which is quite
prepared to enter into a pact with the fascist Jobbik party, but rather against
the population. Strikes and protests against the government are increasing
significantly. At the end of November, thousands of teachers demonstrated for
higher wages and better working conditions. The head of the PSZ teachers’
union, Zsuzsa Szabó, was even forced to declare that the union would call for a
nationwide strike in January if the government did not make concessions. There
have already been massive strikes by teachers in Poland and Croatia this year.
The Orbán government has
responded to the growing opposition among teachers in its typically provocative
and repugnant manner. It released a statement alleging that teachers were
directed by George Soros and that the goal was to overthrow Hungary’s
“anti-immigration government.” The anti-Semitic campaign against billionaire
Soros is not new. The fact that the government now brings it into play against
striking workers must be understood as a warning. Orbán will not hesitate to
dispatch fascist thugs against strikers.
At the same time, the
government is pushing ahead with the country’s militarisation. Foreign Minister
Péter Szijjártó said after the last NATO meeting in Brussels that Hungary would
increase its participation in NATO missions by a third. An additional 70
soldiers would be deployed in Afghanistan and 100 in Kosovo. Szijjártó also
confirmed that Hungary will increase its military budget to 2 percent of gross
domestic product by 2024. This militarist policy is most actively supported by
the German government and its military industries. Recently, the
Düsseldorf-based armaments group Rheinmetall received an order worth €300
million from Budapest for weapons technology.
The further the Orbán regime
moves to the right, the more the European Union closes its ranks against any
criticism. For example, the German EU president, Ursula von der Leyen,
appointed Olivér Várhelyi, a close confidante of Orbán, as EU commissioner for
enlargement. This enables Orbán to increase his influence on the corrupt,
right-wing governments in the western Balkans. At the same time, his brutal
anti-refugee policy retains the legitimacy of the EU and is increasingly
becoming the policy of all European governments.
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