The worst people on the planet are cheering the reelection of Hungary's authoritarian leader

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/04/hungary-orban-carlson-putin-trump-authoritarians-election/

Last night, Hungary’s authoritarian leader Viktor Orbán took the stage to crow about his fourth consecutive election as prime minister (and fifth election victory in total) and condemn the “overwhelming” list of people who had hoped for his defeat. In this list, he included: “The left at home, the international left all around, the Brussels bureaucrats, the [George] Soros empire with all its money, the international mainstream media, and in the end, even the Ukrainian president.”

It wasn’t a surprise that Orbán, an “illiberal” authoritarian and erstwhile Putin ally, would name among his enemies Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a leader who has become an international symbol of the fight for liberal democratic values. But Orban’s gloating remarks, delivered at a time when Ukraine was accusing Russia of massacring civilians in the town of Bucha, still made for a shocking and grim spectacle. Indeed, Orbán’s decisive victory over a united opposition led by provincial mayor Peter Marki-Zay illustrates that the Putin friendly illiberal right in Europe and the US, which seemed to falter after the Russian leader’s broadly unpopular invasion of Ukraine, has once again found its footing.

When Russia invaded Ukraine, Orbán played down his friendly relationship with Putin and extended a welcome to millions of Ukrainian refugees—a startling reversal for one of the most anti-migrant governments in Europe. However, in recent weeks, Orbán has managed to spin anti-anti-Putinism into a viable political strategy, urging neutrality in the conflict and warning Hungarians that Marki-Zay’s promise to mend ties with the European Union would lead Hungary into war with Russia.

Marki-Zay, a conservative Catholic mayor from a mid-sized provincial town leading a united front of opposition parties, was widely viewed as the last best hope to dethrone Orbán, who has dominated Hungary’s political landscape through the post-communist era. Under Orbán’s rule, Hungary has become what the prime minister himself has approvingly described as an “illiberal democracy,” combining a hostility toward diversity, multiculturalism, and LGBTQ rights with one-party control over the state apparatus and a fervent embrace of nationalism and “Christian” values. As András Bozóki, professor at the Department of Political Science at the Central European University, told my colleague Marianne Szegedy-Maszak:

(The Hungarian state) is not representing public interests, but the interests of power, the friends and associates of Orbán, the political and economic entrepreneurs. This is not a classic breakdown of democracy, like revolution or a coup d’état. In this case, a democratically elected leader is hollowing out democracy from the inside through an incremental process, so it’s difficult to identify the definitive step. He got the political power in the first election. In the second term, he got the economic power, and he centralized his power by the end of the second term. And by that time, the European Union noticed the wrong direction, and also what was happening in the Polish election, and the Orbán phenomenon became a European phenomenon, not just an isolated Hungarian case. His dishonest, opportunistic political approach infected Slovenia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Poland, partly even Italy. Then came the election of Donald Trump and Brexit, and all of these changes of 2016 were very favorable for the new autocrats. It is like the complete reversal of 1989 and democratization. Now it is a de-democratization, a global democratic recession. Suddenly Orbán gained global significance as the pioneer of this whole process.

*snip*

[Ray Bruns]

1. Soros empire with all its money

Well, at least he got "it's international Jewry conspiracy" in there.

[Crunchy Frog]

2. It looks like Le Pen has a good chance of winning in France.

[uponit7771]

6. I thought she was behind in France ?! Damn, this is 1930s redo in Europe. France ...

... capitulated in part because there was enough Nazi minded assholes in their lead governments

[PoliticAverse]

3. Netanyahu congratulates populist leaders of Hungary, Serbia on reelections

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/netanyahu-congratulates-populist-leaders-of-hungary-serbia-on-reelections/

Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu congratulates populist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic after the two claimed victory in their countries’ respective elections yesterday.

“I’m sure the fruitful cooperation with Israel will continue under their leadership,” he says.

While serving as premier, Netanyahu developed ties with Hungary and other Central European nations, seeking to use their membership in the EU to influence moves relating to Israel. Serbia is not a member of the EU.

[msongs]

5. hungary supported thte holocaust big time nt

[WarGamer]

7. So did a LOT of countries...

Including Ukraine, the Baltics and more.

There's a lot of blame to go around.

[Celerity]

4. an invigilator at my post doc department is a massive Orban fangirl

She lives back and forth between Stockholm and Budapest and was strutting around like a male peacock today.

She worships Orbán, it is almost like she is in a cult (like a MAGAt).

[PoliticAverse]

8. Well I learned a new work today - invigilator.

Noun 1. invigilator - someone who watches examination candidates to prevent cheating.

We used to call those "proctors".

[Initech]

9. What do they think Soros actually does for a living?