Hungarian News

This post goes back a few days to an earlier post on Miklós Kásler and his Hungarian Research Institute. This article https://demokrata.hu/magyarorszag/feltarulnak-a-turul-dinasztia-titkai-472674/ probably should be titled, In Defense of Miklós Kásler and his Hungarian Research Institute. The article is written by Frank Tibor who can reasonably be described as an ideological warrior for Fidesz. But the reality is Demokrata, formally called Magyar Demokrata was created to be a magazine of ideological war. According to our mentor Eva it’s “editor-in-chief and founder is András Bencsik, one of the organizers of the Peace Marches who also had a hand in the organization of the Hungarian Guard, is a far-right publication known for its anti-Semitic references.” 

Sometimes the far right whether its in Hungary or here in the USA becomes so insular that if does not seem to understand what it is revealing to the non-adherents of fascism who may read it. Tibor’s article is one of those pieces of right wing writing that does that while interviewing Dr. Gábor Horváth-Lugossy, Director General of the Hungarian Research Institute. This interview is about what is called in the article “archaeogenetic research” into the early history of Hungarians and the use of genetic sampling of ancient burials that in the opinion of the Director link the studies of the Hungarian language to Finno-Ugric language kinship by János Sajnovics in the 19th century. century to the ultra modern archaeogenetic research. One reading this interview would assume that Dr. Gábor Horváth-Lugossy had his doctorate in either genetics or archeology, but that turns out not to be the case. He has a JD from  Faculty of Law and Political Science of the Pázmány Péter Catholic University. His knowledge of history apparently was developed in part while he held historical guided tours for thousands of people at Mária Schmidt’s House of Terror museum and also by his own readings. 

So the most interesting aspect of the interview is that Miklós Kásler went directly to both Orban and the Cardinal to get their support for the Institute. This passage of the article is interesting Dr. Gábor Horváth-Lugossy is directly quoted stating: “Something quite amazing happened after the change of regime, which reached its peak in the 2000s. This is the view that could perhaps be characterized by the fact that the balliberal scientific canon took a hypersceptic position in prehistory research as well. Once again, we remember this era as a historical moment, when Miklós Kásler put the plan of the Hungarian Research Institute on the table of Viktor Orbán, and the Prime Minister supported it. It is no accident that the national government has brought us to life and I feel like we have found a partner in us. We are embarking on and carrying out the backward and now possible Hungarian prehistoric research, which is an important basis for building a strong Hungary.” It is more than obvious that the complete intent of Hungarian Research Institute was to promote Hungarian nationalism under the guidance of Fidesz. 

So what we have here is weaponized archaeogenetic research to support Hungarian nationalism. The leading archaeogenetic research center is probably the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History (MPI-SHH). The Planck Institute is highly aware of how archaeogenetic research in the hands of ultra nationalists and racists is dangerous. So much so on their website they post this statement https://www.shh.mpg.de/1794162/anti-racism-statement-mpi-sh which states in part “…given that we are an Institute that houses researchers working in archaeology, linguistics, and genetics, fields that have long been tainted by racism and oppression. Notions of biologically-determined difference and inferiority were central to the early establishment of all of these branches of anthropology. These notions can still filter through in diverse ways to present-day perceptions, interpretations, and practice and we hereby commit to playing a role in actively and sincerely addressing the problem of racist and colonial practice across our research areas.” You will find no such statement coming from the Hungarian Research Institute.