I have a new column this week on OnlySky. It’s about the democratic triumph of Hungary’s elections.
Hungary is a small and geopolitically insignificant country, but it has an outsized presence in global politics. Its longtime prime minister, Viktor Orbán, pioneered a style of illiberal, right-wing authoritarian governance that’s inspired conservative autocrats all over the world. Over sixteen years in power, Orbán steadily chipped away at Hungary’s democracy and tilted the playing field more and more in his favor and against any potential opposition, all without firing a shot. He oppressed LGBTQ+ people, slammed the doors on immigration, and repeatedly frustrated the European will to aid Ukraine. Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and many other dictators and wannabe dictators cheered for him – and took notes.
But the Hungarian people fought back this month. In a closely watched election, Orbán and his allies were thrown out of power in a landslide, despite everything they did to rig the system on their own behalf. This is great news for Europe, great news for Ukraine, and great news for democracy all around the world.
Read the excerpt below, then click through to see the full piece. This column is free to read, but members of OnlySky also get special benefits, like member-only posts and a subscriber newsletter:
For the last sixteen years, Orbán held near-absolute power in Hungary. He struck a pose as a defender of Christianity and traditional values, claiming he would protect the West from scary threats like Muslim refugees and LGBTQ+ people.
His party, Fidesz, advocates hard-right, Christian nationalist politics. Its agenda includes banning same-sex marriage and adoption by gay couples; banning pride parades; prohibiting people from legally changing their gender; rolling back anti-discrimination laws; and opposing multiculturalism and blocking immigration, with the goal of making the country racially and culturally homogeneous. (For example, Orbán has said, “We do not want to be a diverse country”).
You might say that this sounds like what the Republican party wants to do in America, and you’d be right. In many respects, Hungary pioneered the anti-democratic politics that’s been embraced by the right wing in the U.S. and around the world. American conservatives saw what Orbán was doing and loved him for it.
It would also be nice if Belarus could similarly dump Lukashenko. Unfortunately the amount of [alleged] cheating in those elections is such that even an overwhelming vote for someone else would probably still fail… and even if it didn’t, Russia would likely intervene somehow if Putin were still around.
Yeah, unfortunately I agree. Putin would never allow Belarus to elect someone who wasn’t a Russian stooge. He’d invade right away if they tried. I’d bet the only reason he didn’t invade Hungary is because Ukraine is in the way!
Hungary is a member of NATO. Until Trump, it would’ve been uncontroversial that an assault on Hungary would bring the full might of the US and Europe down on any invader. Not just the tepid, limited support Ukraine has gotten. Let’s not forget, despite all the Russian propaganda, the Eastern European NATO members don’t get any grand prizes for joining NATO. They joined because they suffered for decades under Soviet occupation, and want the protection of a DEFENSIVE pact to make sure Russia doesn’t try to rebuild the Soviet empire. NATO has literally never attacked Russia.
Orban must have gotten careless and self-satisfied: no respectable fascist dictator would have left the elections so carelessly rigged as to allow himself to lose.
He stayed in power for so many years, one can hardly think that it was total incompetence at being a dictator, as it is with Trump, that led to his failing to rig the elections well enough.
But, as was said, the Hungarian people fought back. I read elsewhere that people have worked for years to achieve this election result? I hope that it doesn’t take years here in the US.
When I read the list of Trump toadies who went to Hungary to campaign for Orban, I couldn’t help but wonder if the endorsements of so many famous stooges, liars, and criminals, actually helped in achieving Orban’s *loss*. Who would want the endorsement of such an internationally-disgraced body as the Trump administration? I would think that that would both alarm and repel Hungarian voters.