Promising numbers! How Hungarian "Jungle Drums" convert to votes, will be interesting.
Show in the Castle Theatre
The office of the PM moved ►EN to the Budapest castle district into a building that was functioned for ages as the Várszínház, the Castle Theatre. For a very few years, before the secularisation under king and Emperor Joseph II, the building served as Carmelite monastery. Orbán tries to revive the name of the building from the times before the Carmelite order was forbidden as being “useless” in 1782, while its commonly used name was and is Castle Theatre since centuries.
On this stage happened something very unusual: Orbán gave a press conference. Normally he sends Gulyás Gergely to answer the questions of the press. Orbán prefers to talk on the radio where he gets keywords of his liking from an employee to be able to change topic. Already before the happening took place the play turned into something curious. Magyar Hang got a confirmation that they may attend, the very first time this conservative opposition paper was admitted to the holy of holy, a press conference of the PM office. But this wonder did not last long and their admission was revoked again. The official reason: Corona. Here are the details on Magyar Hang ►HU
But indeed something has been revealed: The next president of Hungary shall be Katalin Novák ►HU. The second and last possible term of János Áder will end next spring and Orbán really wants to put his candidate onto the chair of the president as soon as possible and doesn’t want to allow the next parliament to elect the president, although constitutional timing allows both, election through today’s and the next parliament. Novák is today minister without portfolio responsible for family affairs. And no, this is no contradiction in Hungary. She is 44 years old, studied economics and law in Budapest, Szeged, and Paris. Besides Hungarian and French she speaks English and German. In 2001 she started to work as employee in the ministry of foreign affairs and since 2010 her career speeded up. In 2012 she went to the ministry of human resources, wherein she was head of cabinet of the minister to be promoted to state secretary for family affairs in 2014. Last year she got the title of a minister. Since 2018 she is also member of parliament. Here is a closer look on her ►HU
Novák has no ministry on her own, but works in the PM’s office. She also just presents what her boss wants. So it would be too much honour to declare that the family policies would be hers, policies that are generally in disadvantage for those children that are born in families that do not qualify for ideological approval, while those children living in the “good” families with high income are the only who receive substantial social benefits. She gave her name to these unjust family policies only. President László Sólyom, once the candidate of FIDESZ, was too independent in the eyes of Orbán and performed his – limited – constitutional rights and duties. So Sólyom did not get the chance of a 2nd term in 2010 and FIDESZ nominated and elected Pál Schmitt instead. Schmitt fulfilled his role as auxiliary worker of the PM. But Schmitt resigned in 2012 after it became known he did not write his dissertation on his own, but just used translations from foreign sources. His place took a FIDESZ member of the 1st hour, János Áder, mostly to the pleasure of Orbán. Now another submissive party soldier shall replace him. Remarkable, since Orbán is convinced that women are not fit for politics. But keeping women on “their place” in according to the world of Orbán wants to create has never been a problem for her, but she is not only a representative for the discrimination of women, but also of minorities.
Some reactions:
“The authority of the office of president of the republic was already nullified with the election of Paul Schmitt. It can’t get worse anymore, whoever they put in there.” Ákos Hadházy ►HU
“Katalin Novák is even more unsuitable than Áder” Péter Márki-Zay ►HU
“It is time for the direct presidential election to build a more peaceful, cohesive and united country.” Anna Donáth ►HU
“There will be a change: Instead of János Áder, Katalin Novák will guard over the division of our nation.” Péter Jakab ►HU
“FIDESZ also killed the last spark of hope that the first citizen of the homeland could be the representatives of all Hungarian.” Gyurcsány Ferenc ►HU
“As long as there is no republic, it cannot have a president. Once, when we’ll be, we’ll talk with the people about who we should have” Bernadett Szél ►HU
Back to the press conference
Further we learned that FIDESZ on European level won’t go together with German right radical party AfD, at least not today (exactly: “Today is today!”) Chinese vaccine is the best and 9.5 million doses Omicron adapted vaccine will be bought – through the EU. The purchase of 16 000 ventilators at inflated prices was a great idea. Nuclear energy is renewable energy (I would be very interested in the scientific proof.) Brussels will pay for the fence (why not Mexico?) FIDESZ majority will not sell the parliament. Orbán acknowledged that the time for an EU enlargement did not come yet. The EU commission is “brutally sabotaging” by withholding the corona aid, this is smashing the EU. If minister of interior Pintér tells that with Pegasus was everything perfectly legal it was so. Hungarian media are pluralistic, in opposite to Western media. The 3rd vaccination is enough against Omicron, a 4th would be hard for Orbán as well. Asked about his 6 000 square meter (about 66 000 square feet) building project on the site of the former Habsburg manor Hatvanpuszta Orbán does not know an answer, the press should ask the registered owner of the plot – Orbán’s father. Although Austria was called our laboratory not so long ago Orbán won’t regard Austria any more to be that, but he did not explain why we should not copy the so much more successful Austrian measures against the virus. Our health care capacities are better than elsewhere in Europe. And Orbán will hand back his diploma if the opposition would without supermajority break-up the NER. I hope I will be able to remind him. All: ►HU
Tappanch, thanks! Could you calculate and tell us what this would mean for Hungary's representation in the European Parliament?
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Thank you for setting this up István and for writing these articles.
and here is a photo of Hungary’s new President fostering friendly relations with Mr. Salvini (taken from Hadházy Akos’ facebook site)
Re Salvini:
Any news about the planned right wing alliance in the EP – Salvini, LePen, Orbán, PISsers etc?
Just read somewhere that they don’t want the AfD – or maybe the Alle Faschisten Deutschlands don’t want to join them?
Not really. That Orbán did not want to have a joint EU party with AfD today I quoted above. Earlier this month there was a huge meeting in Warsaw …. should be a huge meeting in Warsaw. For example Salvini didn’t bother to travel there. The planned Nationalist International is in fact an oxymoron.
Our health care capacities are better than elsewhere in Europe.
The one thing worse than a liar is a stupid liar!
Besides my wife’s and my own personal experiences with the underfunded rotten Hun health system:
Why is the number of Covid deaths so high here?
This post brought to mind this story about the contradictions between the interests of a full nationstate and the interests of a political dictator of that state. This Reuters story https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/an-old-man-keeps-chronicle-war-ukraines-separatist-donbass-2021-12-22/ caused me to reflect on those of us who are older observers of the world around us, particularly our late blog host Eva. Alexander Cherkas the person depicted in the Reuters story is without question a follower of Putin, yet still identifies as a Ukrainian. His comments in the story relating to a Russian build up of troops were naive in my opinion he stated “(Russia) has never intended and is not going (to invade), because she has enough on her plate already. Russia does not need to take on this burden of Ukraine too – why would it?”
Why would it, indeed is a good question. But unfortunately the old electrician does not understand that interests of the Russian state do not determine this, but rather its Putin individually that will make the ultimate determination, given his complete unmediated control over the Russian military. Eva our late host understood the dynamics and contradictions between the interests of an authoritarian would be dictator like Orban and the interests of the nation state. This seems incomprehensible to our electrician chronicler of the war in Donbass, for Eva she saw this happen again and again in history.
By the way the idea that the current new Chinese Covid 19 vaccine being the best for Omicron seems simply insane to me. This NY Times article https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/19/health/omicron-vaccines-efficacy.html?smid=em-share simply trashes both the Chinese and Russian vaccines.
For those who did not see the pictures: Novák loves absurd ugly earrings showing the name of her party or recently “OV 22”
Nordstream/Russia (and so Hungary)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/23/nord-stream-2-how-putins-pipeline-paralysed-the-west
“[acc.OV] 9.5 million doses Omicron adapted vaccine will be bought – through the EU”
[again acc.OV] and NOT because HU rejoined the May agreement, BUT a new agreement was reached with the EU
acc.info Telex received from the EU, there is NO new agreement only the one from May, so the extra 9.5M vaccines will come because HU rejoined the May agreement!
main take away: MORE LIES [sic] by the myghti lidur… what else… [sic]
full details [in Hungarian] in https://telex.hu/koronavirus/2021/12/23/orban-viktor-bejelentes-9-5-millio-pfizer-vakcina-omikron-unios-beszerzes-majusi-szerzodes-eu-europai-bizottsag
The show must go on!
It’s all over the German media …
PiSser-Chief Kaczyński called out the Germans for wanting to develop the EU into the Fourth German Empire.
https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/politik/kaczynski-polen-kritik-deutschland-100.html
Now we’re waiting for Orbán’s loonies to continue there.
I’m more and more convinced that for these right wingers (dare I say fascists?) a Polexit and Hunxit would be the best procedure – if they win the elections again.
I just don’t get it that so many Hungarians vote for them. OK, in Germany we also have the fascist AfD but in West Germany they get around 10% of the votes.
How will this continue with the Covid epidemic going on?
PS:
In English
https://www.euronews.com/2021/12/24/berlin-wants-eu-to-be-fourth-german-reich-says-poland-s-kaczynski
More problems to think about – the dangers to liberal democracies in these times of massive propaganda by authoritarians via the internet.
A very detailed article – it starts with a picture of Trump and Orbán (almost funny …) and later uses Hungary as an example:
REACTIONARIES WITHOUT BORDERSThat polarization is not a discrete national phenomenon. U.S. reactionary populism is a specific manifestation of a global trend. The international popularity of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban among right-wing commentators, ethnonationalist leaders, and conservative celebrities (particularly American ones) highlights the transnational character of illiberal networks. Orban—whom the Biden administration noticeably did not invite to the planned Summit for Democracy in December—has emerged as a media darling of the American right: a head of state who denounces the power of the philanthropist George Soros, touts anti-immigration policies, and champions traditional values.
I recommend it very much – though it’s a long read.
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/world/2021-12-14/illiberalism-real-crisis-global-order?