25 fun facts on the Hungarian national referendum on refugees

The Hungarian national referendum on refugees was the next grand European voting thing after Brexit and as such, it got quite some international attention. However, there have been subtle differences, such as the Brexit referendum having had a question that actually made sense, and the vote’s outcome making an actual difference. 

In contrast, the Hungarian referendum was a rather absurd - nonetheless pretty evil - smoke-and-mirrors exercise serving exclusively Hungarian party politics goals through the government-orchestrated ignition of hate and fear.  

But there's more to it, and some details reveal quite a bit about the general state of Hungarian democracy and rule of law in this young and dynamic member of the European Union. 

Please enjoy the following little collection.  

1. The referendum's question was about a thing that does not exist

It asked whether the voters would support ‘Brussels’ being allowed to force the re-settlement of refugees to Hungary without the Hungarian Parliament’s approval. No such proposal had ever been on the table in the EU.  

2. It was clear from the outset that the referendum would not have any legal consequence whatsoever, irrespective of the outcome

…given that, even if the question would have made any sense, it was clearly about an issue to be decided on EU-level, and obviously national legislation cannot overrule supranational law 

3. Nevertheless, the referendum question got approved by the National Election Office 

That’s the guys whose job it is to verify if referendum questions are unambiguous and do not contrast supranational treaties. 

I know you will be shocked to learn that the opposition’s referendum questions are typically found to be ambiguous and/or contradicting supranational law, and therefore are rejected. Latest case, opposition wanted to ask the population on the government’s plan to compete as host for the 2024 summer Olympics. The envisaged referendum question was disapproved by the National Election Office inter alia with the reasoning that it counteracts some international treaty on the use of the Olympic logo. Seriously.

4. The government’s campaign was the most expensive political campaign ever in Hungary (costing an estimated 10-15bn HUF / 33-50m EUR). 

I.e. it cost more than any general election campaign so far in Hungary. In fact, more money was spent by the Hungarian government than in the course of the Brexit campaign, both sides combined. Obviously it was all public money and it was all spent on propagating the government’s views. Opponents did not receive any public funding for their campaigns (which pretty much meant there were none).

5. Almost all of that money went into the pockets of government-friendly media tycoons

…which really makes it a win-win (from the government’s point of view).

6. State media orchestrated a hate-and-fear campaigned that is quite unparalleled in the European Union

Only people who have lived in an autocracy know what such relentless, sweeping, propaganda campaigns are like. This one was a pure hate-and-fear campaign coming on all state TV and radio stations, street billboards, national and regional newspapers and so on. 

The government hammered on all channels into the voters’ heads that refugees are terrorists who shall come to Hungary only to take their jobs, blow things up and rape Hungarian women. Facts have regularly been handled rather loosely, with state media disseminating stories long time after they had been proven unfounded.

Just one number here: 42% of the key state TV channel’s complete air time was occupied by refugee-related propaganda material.

7. This reached rather absurd proportions at times, e.g. when during the Olympia, 

State TV commentators ‘forgot’ to mention both the name of Yusra Mardini and the circumstance that she belonged to the refugee team, even though she eventually won her qualifying race. All other athletes in that race were properly introduced. Later it was claimed that a ‘microphone problem’ led to the mistake. 

8. Of course, government-friendly private media also participated in the hate campaign

Foremost TV 2, one of Hungary’s two key private TV stations, which was recently acquired by government-friendly investors, as they politely say. But other media outlets, radios, internet portals moved along in a clearly coordinated manner, hammering the same message 24/7.

9. No opposing views were allowed to appear in state or friendly private media, whatsoever.

That’s pretty obvious in today’s Hungary.

10. The only real counter-campaign was done by a joke-party

The Double-tailed Dog Party was formed by the founder of a funny internet site, initially with purely comedic intentions. Now they collected grassroot funds through the internet and organised a limited billboard counter-campaign mocking the government’s scare-mongering billboards. The funds did not reach 1% of the ‘no’ campaign’s spending.   

11. Fidesz politicians ordered the counter campaign’s billboards to be torn down by public workers

Couple of years ago, the government had replaced unemployment benefits by a system in which the unemployed would have to work in their municipalities in order to receive their benefits (worth about EUR 170 / month). However, this has not been a right but a privilege, whereby the municipalities’ mayors would freely decide to whom to offer it in their city or village. This led to next-to-medieval dependency structures especially in structurally weak rural areas with the mayors being masters of life or death. 

Quickly it turned out that such public workers could well be used for political purposes, not just as mindful voters but also as active campaign personnel on the ground. In this case, they were ordered by government-friendly mayors of Budapest’s districts to tear down Double-tailed Dog Party’s billboards, which they did.

12. The roma population was also targeted by the government’s campaign

Perhaps the most cynical move of all, the government went to convince the country’s Roma population (most of whom live in dire poverty and highly dependent on public aid) that migrants would take away their meagre state benefits.  

13. The government tricked the laws on balanced political campaign spending

It’s easy: they designated the campaign’s elements not as ‘political advertisement’ but as ‘advertisements for the common good’, which usually means things like campaigns against smoking etc. Here the government argued that keeping refugees out is of such overarching national interest that it merits this category; by this they rid themselves of all legal checks and encumbrances applicable to political campaigns.

14. The EU’s Bratislava summit had a very special interpretation in Budapest

All other participants claimed the question of refugee quotas was completely abandoned there, only Viktor Orban insisted on the opposite. It would have made the Hungarian national referendum even more awkward if he had admitted that quotas are completely off the table. Nevertheless it’s telling how the Hungarian public was fed with such a blatant lie through the government-controlled media, and Orban – as usual – got away with it. 
Facts don’t matter that much anymore in Hungary. 

15. Government tried to trick opposition voters 

Hungarian laws require a 50% turnout for a referendum to be legally valid. So when days before the referendum Fidesz got informed on insufficient turnout expectations, they started claiming the government would resign if the ‘yes’ camp won. This was clearly intended to activate opposition voters, get them to the ballot and thereby achieve the required turnout. 

16. Days before the referendum, state TV claimed swarms of refugees would instantly make themselves on the way towards Hungary if the referendum failed to reach quorum

Another last-minute attempt to increase turn-out. Speaks for itself.

17. In the campaign’s last weeks, public servants were ordered to support the government’s campaign by cold calling voters based on illegal lists

There is proof that in several ministries, municipality administrations and other state bodies, employees were made to work several full days on calling voters, trying to persuade them to participate in the referendum and vote ‘no’. Several conversation blueprints and guidelines distributed to ministerial staff reached the press. 

(It also became known that this activity was done based on the so-called Kubatov-list. That list is named after Gabor Kubatov, a key campaign specialist of Fidesz who has compiled a nationwide list of voters including address, phone numbers and political affiliations. In an earlier leaked video Mr. Kubatov boasted that his lists would forecast election results with very low margin of error in a given city and reveal who exactly the voters of the respective parties were and where they lived. This list was used a number of times successfully by Fidesz in the past.

Mate Kocsis, a prominent Fidesz official and spokesman of the party, stated that he sees no problem with ‘providing members of the bureaucracy an opportunity to participate in the debate’, an euphemism if there ever was one.

Now obviously both the mere existence of such lists and forcing state employees to work for a party campaign violate a good number of laws (not that such violation would have any consequence whatsoever in Hungary))

18. In some places, condo representatives too were called upon to campaign for the government’s cause

In Hungary, condominiums have representatives, elected and paid by the owners. They are responsible for daily administration, bills, repair works and so on. 

Now in some districts, such administrators would receive mail from the municipality calling upon them to spread campaign material in the house they’re responsible for.

19. Independent media reports Orban’s aides did not dare to show him the poor turnout forecasts before the referendum

Instead they showed him only optimistic research pieces. 

20. Viktor Orban claimed before the referendum, that a legally valid referendum (i.e. sufficient turnout) would have totally different consequences than an invalid one.

And the turnout wasn’t nowhere near sufficient in the end, but that didn’t stop Orban from claiming victory and going on with the consequence he had planned anyway (see below) 

21. In the press conference after the referendum, media was not allowed to ask any questions

In fact they weren’t even allowed in the room; they had to follow it on screens in a neighbouring room. Only die-hard Fidesz fans were allowed into the press conference room. But of course even they weren’t allowed to ask questions.

22. After the voting, state media simply withheld the information that turnout was in fact insufficient and the referendum failed. 

…as did friendly private media. They boasted on the 98% share of ‘no-s’ among the valid votes (unsurprising given the absurd question) and the absolute number of votes. 

23. Another sweeping campaign is just now underway telling Hungarian people that ‘Hungarians have decided’ and citing the 98% figure.

The impression being created is that 98% of all Hungarians have voted ‘no’. A huge success it is, allegedly.

24. Janos Lazar, chancellery minister stated that ‘the national referendum is a proof of the governance’s democratic nature’

No comment.

25. Viktor Orban announced the intention to amend the Constitution so as to forbid mandatory resettlements of refugees

Funny thing is, as per the Constitution there cannot be a national referendum on changing the Constitution, not that anyone cares. 

And obviously, an amendment in a national Constitution could do equally little to alter supranational law as a national referendum, so again it’s all smoke and mirrors. That doesn’t stop the government from declaring the amendment to be vital and stigmatising in its media outlets the opposition as traitors for being lukewarm on the idea. 

+1. Remember Petra Laszlo?

She’s the camera-women who kicked some refugees, including kids in September 2015 in Hungary. That caused some international outcry and she lost her job with the TV station. Now the fresh news is, after a year of disappearance, she received a good number of awards for some movie she helped to make. The awards were granted by persons and organisations belonging to the Hungarian government’s faithful intellectual hinterland, thus the awards are clearly a signal of moral and financial support.

Hungarian Government uses skinheads to prevent MP from filing national referendum question

Skinheads vs. opposition MP in the National Election Office

Yesterday was a truly special day in Hungary’s post-communist history: skinheads gathered in National Election Office’s premises to prevent an opposition MP from filing a referendum question.

Background

Fidesz introduced a controversial law in March 2015 that would forbid shops to open on Sundays. The ban has been highly unpopular among voters and hence opposition parties have frequently tried to hold a referendum on the question.

Regarding national referenda: although Fidesz actively used referenda when it was itself in opposition to combat the then-government’s plans, when Fidesz came to power in 2010, they were quick to install changes that would make it materially harder to hold one, and they narrowed the topics in which referenda can be held quite substantially.

Furthermore, one of the more odd novelties Fidesz introduced was, that regarding a specific topic, at a given time only one referendum text proposal can be before the National Election Office which scrutinises the referendum’s proposed question for not being misleading etc.. If there’s a second referendum question on the same topic, its submission to the Office has to wait until the actually analysed question is decided upon.

The government has played this rule by organising private persons to file repeatedly deliberately unacceptable questions. These wrong questions would then be ‘analysed’ by the Office for a couple of weeks, and then be rejected; leading to the next ‘private individual’ to instantly file the next deliberately unacceptable referendum question.

Now you may ask, what happens when several persons wish to file a referendum question on the same topic to the Office. Well, Fidesz’s law says that in this case, the winner is the person to first physically stamps his or her question in the Office’s premises at a defined spot.

The Fidesz government exploited this rule by using those ‘private persons’ and the eager assistance of the Office itself, to prevent opposition parties from filing a referendum on the Sunday ban 18 times now. This included disqualifying the opposition for several technical reasons. In one case, the opposition question was disqualified because the MP submitted his question a few minutes too early. In another case, an opposition MP had the perfect timing, however the Office decided to disqualify it and accept the question of another person, based on the other person having entered the building first. The problem is, if one takes legal action against such a decision, the court procedure may take years, delaying any referendum even further.   

What happened yesterday?

Yesterday was the day when Hungary’s Supreme Court would take a decision on the outstanding question on the Sunday’s shop ban. So, an opposition MP walked to the Office at 6 a.m. to wait for the decision and try to file his question quickly once it’s there; for the 19^th time now. However, there also came an elderly lady and a young gentleman, followed by a bunch of muscled skinheads, and so they waited hour after hour for the court decision to arrive.   

Eventually, the MP was physically prevented by the skins to file his question – they ensured that the lady would get there first. So, that’s the 19^th time now the government has prevented the opposition from filing a question, but for the first time this happened with physical force, rather than administrative or legal tricks. The whole spectacle played out amid intensive media coverage. 

There are some further fine details to this action. Independent media reported that the skinheads blocked the Office’s main entrance for several hours, journalists for instance had to enter through the back door. The opposition MP called the police, who entered the scene only to leave shortly later, without having taken any action on the skinheads blockading a public building’s entrance, or even having checked their identity.

While all of Hungary’s non-government-controlled media was strongly focussed on what’s happening, state media was for much of the day completely silent on the issue. Later the day, there was a brief piece of news, informing that a socialist MP wasn’t able to file his questions, because ‘some others have been quicker’.

Who dunnit?

Everyone is quite aware that it’s only the government who has any interest in preventing such a referendum to ever happen. The question has been, of course, whether there’s any actual link to the government. While there is no direct evidence, there are some much-telling facts here.

Independent media soon found out that some of the skins involved belong to the security personnel of FC Ferencvaros, Hungary’s most popular football club. The president of this club is Gabor Kubatov, Fidesz’s vice president. The club’s security guards have been used by fidesz earlier as well e.g. by guarding Fidesz’s party HQ against protesters in 2014.

Two of yesterday’s skins as security men of Ferencvaros, club of Fidesz vice President Kubatov

Furthermore, the old lady escorted by the skins turned out to be the wife of a former Fidesz mayor, and a prominent face of a former nationwide Fidesz campaign. Fidesz reacted rather relaxed to the events, with e.g. PM Orban stating there’s been some scramble in the past as well in such situations, and insisting the opposition is only focussed on creating a scandal.

These responses, state media coverage and the police’s handling the issue are further clear indication on who’s behind this act.    

Final it became known that several of the skins – as evidenced by their own facebook accounts – have far-right affiliations and/or have been in jail repeatedly.

Far-right henchmen blocking the entrance of the National Election Office

An average Tuesday in the European Union

...or, more precisely, in one country belonging to the EU, one which claims to be in its geographical center; Hungary. 

Let's see two key news pieces of the day:

- In Miskolc, one of the largest city of Hungary, a public worker has been fired. He's been fired despite positive former comments on his work because he ran as an opposition candidate in the recent municipality elections. He's then taped a discussion with his own boss (a senior official within the municipality), who confirmed it happened because he ran against fidesz, the governing party. 

(Bit of background: fidesz introduced the special status of public worker as a substitute for long-term unemployment benefits. In this program, hundreds of thousands of typically lowly skilled long-term unemployed people perform simple physical tasks like moving the grass in their municipalities. The trick is that the privilege to do such work for about 100 EUR a month is not a right to all long-term unemployed; municipalities can decide whom to take and whom to leave without any kind of state support. This selection right is said to be abused in a number of ways including using these people as propagandists for the governing party, fidesz. For instance there's plenty anecdotal evidence they are forced to participate in grand pro-government demonstrations called 'peace marches'.) 

Now it would be foolish to assume that there will be any disciplinary action against the boss who fired the guy, or that the public worker would get his job back. Last time a tape became known where a fidesz representative spoke about granting profitable concessions to political friends, the police started an investigation into who had done the 'illegal' taping, and the prosecutor's office confirmed the tape contained nothing that would necessitate it to take action against the fidesz representative.

- A letter became known in the press, written by the ministry of agriculture. It is apparently addressed to everyone in Hungary possessing a fishing or hunting permit (administered by the ministry). And it urges the  holders of such permits to provide in-kind catering services to the participants of to-be-announced Peace Marches, with concrete dates, places and timings. The writer, a department head within the ministry confirmed to a news site he does not see any problem with his letter. 

BTW the organizer of these Peace Marches (see above) is a supposed NGO, which is so non-governmental that its leader is employed by the government and actually in charge of distributing state funding among NGOs. No joke.    

Nationalizing... teaching books

Nothing extraordinary or unexpected, just business as usual.

The Hungarian Parliament will vote on (and undoubtedly approve) the complete natinalization of school books. The draft is very clear in stating that private actors will be taken out from the drafting, production or distribution of school teaching material.

This fits very well into the education policy of this governent, which has been built around the nationalization and ’gleichschaltung’ of all schools, meaning a wide-reaching uniformisation of tuition programmes and materials. 

Hungary to Turkey: how dare you criticize our glorious democracy?!

A short glimpse into the mind and logics of the people running Hungary today.

There’s a long history of the current Hungarian Government using diplomatic channels to protest reports in foreign media that paint an unfavorable picture of it. In fact they even have an under-secretary whose only task is to monitor foreign media voices (including blogs) and react to them.

Recently, Hungary’s ambassador to Austria protested publicly against an Austrian art exhibition centered on anti-Roma sentiments in Hungary, for showing Hungary in a bad light.

In another case, PM Viktor Orban himself got active condemning a ‘children’s news’ piece on German state TV’s, which was critical about freedom of press in Hungary and the weakening of the constitutional court. Mr. Orban said (do spot the hidden beauties):

‘I feel sorry for German kids, being subjected to brain-washing. A thing like that would be unthinkable in Hungary. If it happened here, everyone would be fired.’

And now the unthinkable has happened; a publication of a think tank belonging to the Turkish Foreign Ministry came up with the following sentence:

‘As it stands, it is impossible to characterize Hungary as pluralist, much less as democratic in the usual sense of the word; at the time of this writing, the Hungarian government, supported by a large proportion of the population, is clearly on an authoritarian track, already displaying clearly illiberal tendencies.’

The Hungarian Foreign ministry reacted promptly by calling-in the Turkish ambassador in Budapest for a talk. There the Hungarian side put out that this analysis does not fit at all into the context of continually improving Hungarian-Turkish relationships. Also they demanded explanation how such an opinion could be published.

This blogger is happy to report that the ambassador distanced himself from that analysis, emphasizing that the views appearing in the publication are not those of the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

“Dear employees, we advise you to demonstrate for the government”

Yet again, a true gem. 

CBA is a household name in Hungary; it is a huge food retail chain with the largest network of stores. Also, it is known that the persons behind the company have been early and ardent supporters of Fidesz and Viktor Orban.

Orban’s government has not been unthankful; with a number of measures it ensured CBA's swift growth and weakened its competitors. To name just one issue from a long list, the punitive sectoral special tax on retail companies was designed so as to exclude CBA and instead hit the likes of Auchan, Tesco and Spar.  

But CBA knows money is not the only way it can support the government. And hence a cute little letter, published today by Hungarian media, was sent to all CBA store managers for dissemination to all employees.

In essence it called for participation on the October 23rd ‘peace march’, periodical grand demonstrations designed to show the mass support behind the government to the world.

The letter, signed by the owners of CBA and sent to store managers reads like this (admittedly my humble English cannot nearly deliver the sheer beauty of the Hungarian original, but I'll give it a try) :

‘László Baldauf and Vilmost Lázár {the owners of CBA} have an appeal of private nature to make to the members of our alliance system, the members of the grand, supportive CBA-family.   

On October 23rd we commemorate the heros and martirs of the 1956 revolution. However this celebration also presents a good opportunity to show the support for our national government. Affirmation and sticking-together is important, given that only by uniting we are able to limit and counter the ugly jiggery-pokery of postcommunist, liberal thugs who are again and again traitors to our country, serving the interests of multinationals, thereby sacrificing the Hungarian peoples’ well-being and development.

All who care for our nation’s strengthening and systematic and even development are called upon to come and participate together on the peace march and then listen to the Prime Minister’s {capital letters in the original] speech.  It is important that all of us, national-minded true patriots support our Hungarian politician of greatest format, our nation’s prime minister, Viktor Orban.

[Information on timing and route of peace march]

We ask upon the store managers to inform all employees on this letter and its important contents.’

By the way, there’s a continuous dispute among Hungarian intellectuals whether there is dictatorship in Hungary or not. The overwhelming majority is of the opinion, that there’s no (not yet a) dictatorship. 

Interim elections ‚irregularities‘

Once again a priceless little chain of events that is more telling than a thousand pages of analysis.

The southern Hungarian town of Baja is otherwise not terribly spectacular (save for the fish soup made there, that is well known throughout the country),  but it now got its 15 minutes under the sun due to a recent interim election for parliament, which has taken place due to the local MP’s decease. Being just half a year ahead of national elections, the voting attracted nationwide interest and major efforts on the parties’ behalf (NB classical polls are not so reliable in Hungary as opposition supporters are known to often shy away from outing themselves) .

Fidesz won the vote tightly before the democratic opposition’s contestant. However the opposition pointed to irregularities and showed video tapes that seemed to prove multiple-voting and organized transport of certain voters to the voting stations. Charmingly, Fidesz seems to have outsourced this fine task to its Roma allies ‘Lungo Drom’ (a nationwide Roma organization). Apparently, after all those ambiguities about the role and worth of Roma in Hungarian society, Fidesz has found a use for them!

Anyhow, the opposition went before court, which ruled the election be repeated.

Fidesz was quick to interpret the court’s ruling saying no cheating had been identified. Being asked about the irregularities, and whether there would be consequences within Fidesz, the press was told by the head of Fidesz’ parliamentary group to ‘do their campaigning for the opposition elsewhere’.

He added that they would change the electoral law such that the practices in question would not be illegal anymore at the national elections in 2014. He referred to Western European examples naming e.g. Germany and the UK as countries which inspire the said change of law.   

Cherry-picking from the news of the last couple of days

Hungary is such a great place because there's just not a single day without some memorable news, idea, or comment - mostly, though by far not only, from within the conglomerate that rules the country today.

To prove the point, here comes a selection from the last three days' harvest.

- László Kövér, Speaker of the Parliament and a major figure in Fidesz (we had him already here) said that it would be much better to rule by decree. In his view, the current way of governing that is bound by laws is, erm, outdated. And it had been created after the systemic change in 1990 out of fear of dictatorship, which fear is by today obsolete.

(Now tell me, could Kafka, Vonnegut or Monty Python have gotten up with anything like this? By the way, this is the same reasoning they employed when they destroyed the Constitutional Court. Then they said the Court had been important in times when the rule of law was unstable, but now it is firm so... the Court can be done away with. And everyone knew they were crushing the Court in order to be able to pass retroactive laws.) 

- Ethics. Ethics is very important for the government. So important that it has been introduced as a mandatory subject in lower education. Complete, of course, with detailed mandatory curriculum and a uniform teaching book to be used in all schools across the country. And that has delicacies such as: "Hungarians are one of Europe's most open-minded, welcoming and friendly nations, hower the many adopted nations teared the country apart"

- The famous Pető Institute has financial difficulties so severe that it is near bankruptcy. The institute is the center of educating specialists who treat children with various disabilities with the Pető method. At the same time, the state is building expensive football stadiums en masse. See, PM Orbán likes football. And he doesn't like gay things such as inclusive therapy. Or humanities.

- Quite in the above spirit, Lajos Kósa, also a senior Fidesz politician, said in a school's yearstart celebration: "good children, when beaten, tend to perform" The audience stood up and left. (I'm joking, of course the audience did nothing, except clap-clap)

- And, PM Orbán's daughter got married. The lucky winner is the son of a local Fidesz nobility, and got elected into the management of the regime's favourite company (producing a stunning 99% winning ratio in the public procurements they competed for. Basically they biuld everything in today's Hungary).
Notably, the roads on which the pair would drive on the day of the wedding, were repaired with great haste by the authorities.

...and, as said, this is the harvest of three short days, in contemporary Hungary.
    

Nationalizing… cigarettes retail sale

There are few better examples to demonstrate the actual workings of Hungary under Orban than the recent case of cigarettes retail sale's nationalization.

It happened in April 2013 that the government surprisingly announced that the retail sale of cigarettes shall be restricted to a low number of specialized shops across the country. All other existing sellers (small shops, supermarkets, gas stations etc) shall be forbidden to sell cigarettes as from July 1. The number of new authorized shops was kept so small that they would have effective monopolies in their surroundings.

The move was explained with the need to curb young peoples’ access to cigarette and with providing work and living for ordinary Hungarian people (as opposed to international retailer groups).

In a matter of weeks, the owners of these new concessions were selected in what was allegedly a fair and open process.

However, more and more cases emerged in the press which suggested that the new concession winners were attached to the governing Fidesz party in one way or another. Among them were many friends and relatives of Fidesz MPs and local representatives, but also people like the chief editor of the national news agency. In some places, the two concession winners were the (Fidesz) mayor and his wife. Most of the winners had never had any retail activities so far.

Parallel it became evident that most existing small shop owners failed to win a concession and were facing closure given cigarettes was their anchor product. The press found out that several of them were approached by the new winners offering ‘cooperation’ in the operation of the new shops.

Evidence mounted that a few government-friendly families have secured vast numbers of concessions. One of the largest winners turned out to be a company named Continental Tobacco, with close ties to Janos Lazar, head of the prime minister’s office and a powerful figure in Fidesz. Later it became known that Continental in fact wrote large parts of the new law’s text.

So the emerging impression was that this entire operation was effectively an expropriation of existing shop owners and others sellers of cigs, and a redirection of related incomes to Fidesz’ entourage.


As a matter of fact, the fixed price margin for cigs was immediately raised from 3% to 10%, thereby providing very respectable incomes to the new shop owners.

Media’s attention turned to the competition process which decided who would win the concessions. They filed information requests to the respective ministry in order to receive insight into the competition documents and scoring of the applications; requests that could not be declined under the existing law.

Fidesz’ two-thirds parliamentary majority reacted quickly by changing the respective information law retroactively and introducing into it the concept of ‘abusive information request’ as a punishable offense.

Additionally, the minister decided to immediately send back to the applicants their applications so they would not have to be shown to media. The press then got hold of some sent-back unsuccessful applications, only to find that those hadn’t ever been opened.

In the meantime, more and more rumors hit the press on how local Fidesz groups were influencing who would win the concessions. One local Fidesz representative claimed that in his city, it was the (Fidesz) mayor and the local Fidesz townhall faction which handpicked the winners. The claim was rejected by Fidesz however then voice recordings emerged which proved just that. Of course, there were no consequences for the involved, except the ‘traitor’ had to leave Fidesz and a campaign was started against him in local media citing alleged corruption cases of his.

Several notions were filed to the state prosecutor but the office (headed by a former Fidesz MP) decided the tapes did not necessitate an investigation as there were no signs of any wrongdoing. One action they did take however, in starting an investigation into whether personality rights of the mayor and Fidesz representatives had been violated by recording their dialogue in which they decided on the concession winners.

There are some more fine details to this story allowing glimpses into the workings of today’s Hungary:

- The conditions of the competition for concessions required that anyone competing would wiave any right to legal action against the decision.

-  Some 1400 out of 3200 total municipalities in Hungary remained without a cigs shop, meaning it is simply not possible to buy cigs in these villages today. The reason is that there were no applications from these, partly because the law placed strict requirements on the new shops necessitating often costly investments which many could not finance. The government reacted quickly: existing retailers of all kinds in these rural areas received official letters telling them they have been ‘appointed’ to sell cigs in their villages and urging them to file a respective application.

- When the press got full of stories of existing shop owners who’d lose their living, PM Orban himself got active and stated that 'the state must ensure the continued livings of these people'. Soon an official state aid program was announced. Later it came out that the eligibility criteria were so that less than a quarter of existing owners could participate.

- The government made sure the new status quo could not be changed easily by a future government. The contracts signed with the winners stipulate that if the concessions were to be revoked, or further sellers be allowed into the sector, then the government would have to pay enourmous fees to the concession owners.

- As regards state and Fidesz-friendly media, they were largely silent for much off the time. When the topic became too apparent, they ran a campaign claiming that the concession winners were close to the opposition Socialist party. Seriously. They presented two winners as evidence; however the alleged affiliation to the Socialists turned out to be false in both cases.  Also they claimed that the cigs producer Phillip Morris was behind the ‘organized campaign’ against the new law, along with the obligatory ‘foreign forces want to weaken the government because it protects national interests’ punchline.

- And… rumor has it that alcohol’s next.

On the perfectly lawful method of preventing opposition demonstrations

Nothing really new, just a continuation of a well-functioning method.

Different government entities have reserved virtually all places suitable for gatherings on March 15, a national holiday in Hungary and traditionally an opportunity for opposition forces to show themselves.

This means that, as in prior year, there will be quite simply no place for opposition parties to gather and demonstrate.

Legally the method works perfectly well, as - understandably - there can be only one demonstration at a time in a given location.

Also, as the public has learned last year, the law does not foresee that there is an actual gathering/demonstration/whatever held at the reserved site.

End of story.

'Gypsies should not exist' - waves

After a short period of contemplation, governing Fidesz threw its weight behind Zsolt Bayer, who quite simply called for the extermination of Roma in a newspaper article.

Even Bayer's publisher, a well-known oligarch, and an ally of PM Orban, withdrew the initial lukewarm apology and called upon his readers to unite behind Bayer. He called the protests against Bayer's remarks 'an attempt to create rifts in right-wing unity'.

Yesterday then produced a true piece of art, as a handful of demonstrators gathered before Fidesz party HQ to protest their stance. There they were greeted by a molino hung onto the HQ's walls, carrying the following message:

'Do not side with the killers. Do not listen to Ron Werber'

The first sentence refers to the deadly dispute which had served as an apropos to Bayer's article, and in which the attackers were allegedly Roma.

The second is a reference to the Socialist party's campaign consultant, who helped them win the 2002 elections and has now been hired again by the socialists. As in 2002, his appearance has massively angered right-wing voters, as he is, supposedly, of Jewish origin.



PM Viktor Orbán remained, tellingly, silent all along. This prompted some observers to lament whether Bayer's remarks could be part of a greater strategy of Fidesz to lure the voters of far-right Jobbik.

'Gypsies should not exist' - reactions

{For the original claims, click here}

Of course, everyone looked to the governing party Fidesz of which Zsolt Bayer is a (prominent) member.

A minister, Mr. Navracsics's words were interpreted as a call for ousting Zsolt Bayer from the party. He called Bayer's statements grave and unacceptable and added: 'people who call groups of humans animals have no place in a community'. 

However his view remained in minority in his party, apparently. 

Fidesz' spokesperson produced yet another true gem by saying: ' Mr Bayer wrote the article as a journalist {i.e. not as a Fidesz member}. Fidesz understands society's emotions in connection with certain recent crimes, given that in short time two sportsmen have been killed in knife attacks, but public figures should not be writing or speaking in a hot-tempered way'.

She added that society may form an opinion on a journalist's articles, but she would not find it appropriate for Fidesz to do so.

Finally she warned against putting Bayer's remarks in the same bracket as MP Gyöngyösi's ones, who had famously called for a list of MPs and government members with Jewish origins. 

Máté Kocsis, head of communication in Fidesz, called the protests against Bayer's remarks 'a circus' and said he understands Bayer's feelings, it's merely his style he's not okay with.

Pro-gov media anchor: 'gypsies should not exist'

Introducing Zsolt Bayer, a journalist and proud holder of the governing Fidesz party's membership badge nr. 5 (meaning he's a founding father).



He has been a key organiser of the 'peace marches', giant demonstrations in support of Viktor Orbán's government (for which he received an award just days ago from... the government).

As the iron fist of the fidesz-controlled media, he's stirred controversy quite a number of times in recent years, e.g. when he accused jews of 'blowing their nose into the nation's swimming pool' or when, as a reaction to criticism against Orbán, he expressed his regret that not all left-leaning people were dug into the earth in the woods of Orgovány (that's where after WW1 far-right paramilitary units murdered high numbers of allegedly left-leaning citizens).

Now he used an argument-turned-fatal among youngsters to share his views about Hungary's Roma population.

“A significant part of the Gypsy population are unfit for coexistence. They are unable to live among humans. These Gypsies are animals, and they act like animals. They want to mate/rut whenever they see someone and with whoever they see. If they meet resistance, they kill. They defecate wherever and whenever they feel like it. If they feel obstructed, they kill. They want to get whatever they come across. If they do not get it immediately, they take it and they kill. These Gypsies are incapable of all human communication. Their animal skulls emit inarticulate sounds, and all they understand of this miserable world of theirs is violence. [...] Those animals must not exist. In any sense. This is what has to be solved immediately and by any means!”

This gentleman has a well-known excellent relationship, based on mutual respect, with the prime minister of Hungary, Mr. Viktor Orbán.

Student representatives' personal data in pro-gov media

Very typical for Fidesz...

In the past two years, several observers have taken note of the utmost restraint that student leaders (elected leaders of universities' students organisations and their ceiling organisation) displayed, despite wave after wave of government-induced chaos and havoc in higher education. Wherever any student resistance tried to form, these leaders typically put their feet on the brake. Even in the past several days, where students' anger spilt over, there were leaders who tried to prevent demonstrations on universities. Having said that, most realized that they must follow their student electorate and began supporting the protests.

Now that earlier obstructive behaviour was quite puzzling... until now.

Yesterday, as a reaction to most student leaders siding with the students, the government spokesman cited a need to check if all student representatives' own status (i.e. as a student themselves) is in good order from an administrative point of view. And hey presto, today the daily newspaper Magyar Nemzet (tightly controlled by Fidesz) presented a handy table with many student leaders' personal data, including information clearly intended for diffamation (e.g. how long they've been at their universities - some indeed quite a bit of time...).

Privacy organisations have promptly commented that it would be hard to obtain such personal data in a legal way; luckily the ombudsman for privacy matters confirmed without delay that all is in good order and no laws were violated. The ombudsman had been installed, of course, by Fidesz. 

'Reforming' higher education with the chainsaw

No detailed analysis, just the numbers.

Last year the number of higher education places (university etc) financed by the state was  halved from 80.000 to some 40.000, this two weeks before the student's deadline of filing the application for the places.

Now it has been announced (two months before the deadline...) that from 2013, there will be only 10.000 state-financed places. The rest will require co-financing or (mostly) complete financing by the students themselves.

In some areas such as law or economics/business studies, there will not be any state-financed places. A state secretary explained this by stating that in economics, students are taught, inter alia, how to avoid paying taxes, and thus there is no reason for the state to support this line of education.

Viktor Orbán stated himself that the final goal is a higher education system that is competely self-supporting.
 (prompting commentators to draw comparisons with professional football, where there seems not to be such a requirement of self_support, as a large many billion forints state money is being spent on all-new stadiums and artificial grass football-fields - NB Orbán is, as everybody knows in Hungary, a football-freak)

The governmet's steps have incited quite a reaction in high-schools and universities, with several protests and marches having been organised in the past days. Certainly the activisation of these age groups is new and spectators have agreed that the situation is highly dangerous for Fidesz.

Teachers reactions to the protests have been cautiously positive, although not everywhere. Let me conclude this post with another true Hungarian gem; please find below today's statement of the Cistercian Order's Nagy Lajos High School, published today on their website:

'Dear students!
Our school's leadership took the following decision in the context of the nationwide student demonstrations being organised for tomorrow against the change in higher education.  

In this uncertain situation it is <only> one's faith and confidence in the Lord's wisdom that can provide support. Therefore, tomorow the 11. and 12.-grade students will participate in a holy sermon where they can offer their destiny and future to God's mercy.  They shall do so safe in the knowledge that by that they do the most they can do in this situation. After the sermon the curriculum will continue as planned. Other grades' students are unaffected by this change.'

MP: "Jews should be listed" II - The Aftermath

I. A demonstration with all parliamentary parties except for far-right Jobbik.
Participation 20-30 thousand - not bad but nowhere from Fidesz' well organized 'peace marches' in support of the government with several hundred thousand participants.

Quite a novelty that Fidesz sent a representative in the person of Antal Rogán, head of Fidesz' parliamentary group. Media consensus is that he gave a fairly good speech - certainly clearer than what the public has come to expect from Fidesz in such matters. Some irony though lies in the fact that Mr. Rogán won his seat as mayor of a Budapest district with the Support of Jobbik.

II. In parliament, Viktor Orbán touched upon the issue, whereby the most cited sentence was this: 'We, Hungarians protect our Jewish fellow countrymen'. This has again caused slight irritation as some understood this as implying that Hungarian Jews aren't, in fact, Hungarians.

III. In the more detailed parliamentary debate on the issue, Fidesz assigned the task of articulating the party's position to its only prominent MP with admitted Jewish origins. He said inter alia:

'My mother is Jewish and my father is Jewish - I was born into this. I did not have a choice. But you <i.e. Jobbik MPs> do have a choice.'

IV. Jobbik-MP Márton Gyöngyösi was called on to resign as deputy head of the Hungarian Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, which of course he refused (backed by his party).

V. However, he was disallowed to participate in that Committee's next official visit to Rome. The decision was taken by László Kövér, Chairman of the Hungarian Parliament and a vastly powerful and influential figure in Fidesz. The background of his decision was explained by Mr. Kövér as follows:

From a Hungarian national interest perspective, it would not be worth sacrificing the Committee's visit to Rome by having to explain Márton Gyöngyösi's completely unacceptable and inexplicable statement, be it by Mr. Gyöngyösi himself or by any other member of the Committee. Seeing the European press, and within it, the Italian press, which provided a lot of coverage to this - to put it mildly, unfortunate - statement, this danger looked real to me'.