Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government is relentlessly campaigned against by his opponents. On the other hand, certain forces, such as those praising the deep and close ties between Hungary and Israel, commend Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his government’s measures, while criticizing George Soros.
Hungary may not be a large country, but it is determined to survive the demographic winter that is afflicting industrial nations. Nearly one-tenth of its budget is dedicated to family support, but even more important than family support is the renewed national spirit and resistance to the European Commission’s attempt to homogenize the nations of Europe through supranational centralization. Orbán can hardly be called extreme when, in the free and fair 2022 elections, he won his fourth term as Prime Minister with 54% of the vote — 33% ahead of the opposition.
Nevertheless, his political opponents campaign against him without restraint. They can do so because, unlike in the United States, there is no censorship on social media in Hungary, nor are there laws aimed at political opponents. No opposition politician or journalist is imprisoned. Jewish life is flourishing in Hungary, as it is safer to walk with a kippah in Budapest than in New York, let alone Paris or Berlin. Orbán has opposed his European Union counterparts and, since 2016, has not allowed mass immigration from the Middle East, which has led to shocking violence in other European countries.
After the massacre on October 7, Viktor Orbán — uniquely among European countries — banned anti-Israel protests. Hungary condemned the ICC’s arrest warrant against Netanyahu. It maintains a diplomatic representation in Jerusalem through a trade office, also unique among European nations. French President Emmanuel Macron has called for an arms embargo against Israel, and Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez wants to terminate the European Union’s free trade agreement with Jerusalem. Meanwhile, Orbán stands by Israel.
George Soros, however, the world’s wealthiest Hungarian-born Jew and an ultraliberal political activist, is estimated to have spent $400 million pushing Hungarian politics to the left. This amount is equivalent to $60 billion in U.S. political spending. Soros has drawn the ire of Hungarian conservatives not because he is Jewish, but because his Open Society Foundations have a massive presence in Hungarian politics.
Translated and edited by Alex Kada
