Will Hungary bring us to that longed-for tipping point against autocracy? The polls are encouraging, but as Orban predictably pulls the terrorism card, the deck is already stacked in his favor.
One puzzling statement in your account is that the Hungarian diaspora tends to support Orban’s party. If that is so, how does that square with the continuing export/self-exile of Hungarians, with the population dropping slightly virtually every year since 1989, for a decline from 10.4 million to 9.54 million (source: statista.com) - over a time when the populations of most nations have increased.
Since the population of Hungary has been consistently shrinking in the 35 years since the fall of Communism in 1999, does Orban appeal to his diaspora because distance makes their hearts fonder?
Good question. It makes no sense that people who are not subject to incessant propaganda would continue to vote in that way. If only the Jewish diaspora could vote in Israeli elections!
The fall of Communism was in 1989 and began with the fall of the Berlin wall in November of that year. In May 1989, Hungary began dismantling its border fence with Austria, symbolically opening the Iron Curtain.
In the Washington Post, a thoughtful account of Vance’s joining Orban’s political campaign in Hungary, Trump’s supportive voiceover, and the nationalist resistance of the candidate opposing Orban to Vance’s cross-border intrusion. https://wapo.st/4tuJRDL
As demonstrated by the bizarre assigning of Vice President Vance to join the Orban campaign in Hungary, the White House appears to take seriously your linking of the political fates of Orban and Trump. While I believe the fever of corrupt autocracy will break, full recovery will take time.
I have to think about the Munich Security Conference last year. Vance stood there and spoke a language so foreign to the attendees and literally jaw-dropping about "erosion of democratic norms" etc., which was a reaction to the general shunning of the AfD ("Alternative für Deutschland", the ultra-right borderline Nazi party trying to enter the political parlor) by the other parties. He was speaking for the AfD. No wonder he was in Hungary yesterday pushing for Trump´s and Putin´s European darling. All par for the course.
Vance seems to be competing for Dan Quayle’s Hapless VP award. This time around, though, the lack of common sense judgment is more likely to end in damage than in farce.
Thanks for the article on Hungary. My family is connected to Hungary's joining the EU. My uncle, Sir Hans Hilbers, was an economist with the Dutch government and the EU who was appointed in the early 1990s to help Hungary improve and modernize its economy to qualify to join the EU. He was very proud of his accomplishment and stayed friends with many Hungarian politicians, and advised them on economic matters. but not Orban. I think Hungary can recover politically and economically if the Fascist regime is defeated! I am sure my uncle would have agreed, but he passed away a few years ago at 91 years old.
What a different world it would be if Ukraine could follow suit and be part of the EU too. This week’s election could be the first step toward achieving that goal.
I agree. Fascism and autocratic governments are being defeated. I live in Portugal, and we defeated a Fascist party in the last election. The US Fascists and autocrats will be defeated in the US in November, but there is a long way to go before democracy is restored to the US. Israel is another story. I don't know how the Zionists are going to be defeated, but they have to lose power before any peace returns to Israel and the Middle East.
One puzzling statement in your account is that the Hungarian diaspora tends to support Orban’s party. If that is so, how does that square with the continuing export/self-exile of Hungarians, with the population dropping slightly virtually every year since 1989, for a decline from 10.4 million to 9.54 million (source: statista.com) - over a time when the populations of most nations have increased.
Since the population of Hungary has been consistently shrinking in the 35 years since the fall of Communism in 1999, does Orban appeal to his diaspora because distance makes their hearts fonder?
Good question. It makes no sense that people who are not subject to incessant propaganda would continue to vote in that way. If only the Jewish diaspora could vote in Israeli elections!
The fall of Communism was in 1989 and began with the fall of the Berlin wall in November of that year. In May 1989, Hungary began dismantling its border fence with Austria, symbolically opening the Iron Curtain.
Thanks for correcting that typo, which erred in transmitting the subtracting of 35 (rounding from 36) from 2025, the last year of population data.
👍
In the Washington Post, a thoughtful account of Vance’s joining Orban’s political campaign in Hungary, Trump’s supportive voiceover, and the nationalist resistance of the candidate opposing Orban to Vance’s cross-border intrusion. https://wapo.st/4tuJRDL
As demonstrated by the bizarre assigning of Vice President Vance to join the Orban campaign in Hungary, the White House appears to take seriously your linking of the political fates of Orban and Trump. While I believe the fever of corrupt autocracy will break, full recovery will take time.
I have to think about the Munich Security Conference last year. Vance stood there and spoke a language so foreign to the attendees and literally jaw-dropping about "erosion of democratic norms" etc., which was a reaction to the general shunning of the AfD ("Alternative für Deutschland", the ultra-right borderline Nazi party trying to enter the political parlor) by the other parties. He was speaking for the AfD. No wonder he was in Hungary yesterday pushing for Trump´s and Putin´s European darling. All par for the course.
Vance seems to be competing for Dan Quayle’s Hapless VP award. This time around, though, the lack of common sense judgment is more likely to end in damage than in farce.
The White House is aligned with your linking
Thanks for the article on Hungary. My family is connected to Hungary's joining the EU. My uncle, Sir Hans Hilbers, was an economist with the Dutch government and the EU who was appointed in the early 1990s to help Hungary improve and modernize its economy to qualify to join the EU. He was very proud of his accomplishment and stayed friends with many Hungarian politicians, and advised them on economic matters. but not Orban. I think Hungary can recover politically and economically if the Fascist regime is defeated! I am sure my uncle would have agreed, but he passed away a few years ago at 91 years old.
What a different world it would be if Ukraine could follow suit and be part of the EU too. This week’s election could be the first step toward achieving that goal.
I agree. Fascism and autocratic governments are being defeated. I live in Portugal, and we defeated a Fascist party in the last election. The US Fascists and autocrats will be defeated in the US in November, but there is a long way to go before democracy is restored to the US. Israel is another story. I don't know how the Zionists are going to be defeated, but they have to lose power before any peace returns to Israel and the Middle East.