Orban: “I won against everyone, Hungary first!”
“This fourth straight win for us is the most important because we won power against an allied opposition. They all formed an alliance and we still won. This was what Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said when announcing the victory in the elections. “We also won at international level. Against globalism. Against Soros. Against the European mainstream media. And also against the Ukrainian President, he added. “Fidesz represents a patriotic and Christian conservative force. It is the future of Europe. Hungary first!” he finally exclaimed, echoing the famous words of Donald Trump who said: “America first!”. Orban’s speech was received with great applause by his supporters.
The war in Ukraine has also become an election campaign issue
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky sent the opposition a signal when, on the eve of the Hungarian elections, he described Orban as “the only one in Europe who openly supports Putin”. “I’m not afraid to call the war by its name he attacked the Ukrainian head of state that’s called honesty, something Viktor Orban lacks, maybe he lost it somewhere in his relations with Moscow.” But Zelenskyy’s insult, added to that leveled during the European summit, may have proved counterproductive. Progovernment propaganda spread fears among voters that the opposition would drag Hungary into the war by allowing arms shipments to Ukraine.
There is also a shade of cheating in voting
The NGO Hungarian Civil Liberties Union reported voting irregularities. In Hortobagy, a town in eastern Hungary, the local government organized and advertised buses to get people to vote, according to activists. “The local electoral commission has declared that this is illegal, but our activists the NGO claims have identified a bus transporting them”. These allegations come on top of suspicions reported in recent days by several journalists who found burned ballot papers in Romania, in a region inhabited by the Hungarian minority. It is no coincidence that the OSCE for the first time in an EU country sent 200 observers to monitor the correct conduct of the vote. Which promises to be more controversial than ever.
Election winner, lost in referendum on antihomosexuality promotion law
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who won his fourth consecutive term on Sunday, was defeated by the referendum on the law banning “promotion of homosexuality” to minors. The referendum held in connection with the elections and wanted by Orban himself was invalid due to the lack of a quorum, as was the wish of the human rights organizations working in this direction. The law, passed in June 2021, prohibits showing minors content that depicts or promotes homosexuality or gender reassignment. And it was worthwhile for Hungary to initiate EU infringement proceedings.