By Dr. Miklos K. Radvanyi
Hungary – the poorest and most corrupt state within the European Union – has been held hostage for over fifteen years by a grossly incompetent and evil tyrant who claims to shield the nation from the destructive decadence of democracy, illegal immigration, Brussels’ imperialistic machinations, and the amorphous menace of Western “liberalism.” Its Prime Minister’s outwardly convincing performance is believable only if “informed professional observers” intentionally ignore reality. Throw away his hate-filled nefarious rhetoric and underneath the fear-induced bluster there is a dying nation – politically, economically as well as morally – by an unsuitable nobody who has always mistaken illegitimate coercion for legitimacy and weaponized control for absolute strength.
Since his FIDESZ Party suffered a humiliating defeat in 2002, with a record-breaking voters’ participation of 73.51%, Viktor Orban became “very angry” and believed that the loss was “revoltingly unjust,” publicly accusing everybody – except himself – for the outcome. More significantly for the future of Hungary, his electoral defeat metamorphosed FIDESZ from a seemingly semi-democratic center-right party to a fundamentally “Communist” organization under his tyrannical control. His refusal to engage even in a modicum of self-reflection led him to utter the following revealing sentence concerning his state of mind: “The nation cannot be in opposition,” implying that only he personally and his party are real Hungarians and that any other political formation consist of traitors and are the sworn enemies of the Hungarian nation. Even more catastrophically, he also said the following: “If I gain power again, I will destroy the country.”
After eight years in the political wilderness, Orban’s wish came through. His FIDESZ Party returned to absolute power in 2010, garnering 52.7% of the popular vote that meant 68% parliamentary majority due to the discombobulated design of the post-Communist electoral system. As a true tyrant, Orban hastily turned Hungary from a fledgling state inching hesitantly toward democracy into an essentially one-party tyranny. In 2011, he promulgated a new Constitution and called it Basic Law. First, this so-called “Basic Law” made it virtually impossible for him and his party to again lose elections. Second, he simply stole the private retirement savings of millions of Hungarians in the amount of $15 billion. Third, by force retirement of most of the sitting judges, he packed the courts with incompetent, but compliant replacements. Fourth, individual electoral districts were gerrymandered to ensure that no opposition candidates could win elections. Fifth, independent media were strangled by lack of advertising revenues. Finally, “free elections” became a hoax because he eliminated real competition. The cost of this tyrannical transformation has been catastrophic. Hungary’s public services are almost nonexistent. Hospitals ceased to treat patients with adequate professionalism because of staff shortages, outdated equipment, while the loyal oligarchs stole European Union funds until 2018 with impunity, when his outrageous corruption forced Brussels to stop Hungary from using these monies as spoils of Orban’s tyranny. Education became a sheer propaganda campaign by dumbing down the students across the country. Teachers are abused, underpaid, overworked, and increasingly muzzled, punishing them for the “crime” of expecting a brighter future rather than managing incompetence. The result is that young Hungarians – mostly highly educated young as well as middle-aged professionals – are leaving for Austria, Germany, France, Italy, the Scandinavian countries, and the Benelux states. Orban’s Hungary no longer offers a future. In reality, it is a hopeless country.
Economically, the Hungarian Gangsterocracy’s model is a burlesque of sovereignty. While constantly railing against foreign interference, Orban puts Hungary on the pawn of Russian energy and Chinese loans. Demonstrating his absolute incompetence, Orban is denouncing the European Union’s “decadence” even as the country’s prosperity depends almost exclusively on Brussels’ money – money that he treated as his personal piggy bank until his enormous corruption was resolutely stopped in its tracks in 2018 by Brussels. This, in turn, has resulted in the highest inflation rates within the European Union which have punished every Hungarian on the one hand, but further enriched the oligarchy on the other – most strikingly Orban’s pal from elementary school Lorinc Meszaros, an uneducated person with a primitive vocabulary even in his mother tongue.
Then there is the cultural rot. To maintain his Gangsterocracy, Orban manufactures fear and hate-fueled divisions, tirelessly inventing enemies – again not unlike in the pre-1990 Communist dictatorship – to justify his tyrannical grip on power. Migrants who never came, but when some did, quickly exited Hungarian territory, “gender ideology” that barely exists in speeches, Ukraine which is blamed for starting the war with Russia for the miserable conditions in Hungary. This is not “illiberal democracy” – it is evil weaponized. A well-performing nation does not need scapegoats. Only a bankrupt Gangsterocracy does.
Contrary to Orban’s evil rhetoric, Hungary’s present tragedy is not that it lacks talent, culture, or dignity. It is that all three are being squandered by a man who confuses himself with the nation. Orban pontificates about Hungary as if it were his feudal estate. Yet, countries are not private property. They are historical communities – and these communities wither when fear replaces trust and obedience replaces accountability.
The most damning indictment of Viktor Orban’s Gangsterocracy is the almost two decades of unchecked power. Today, Hungary is weaker, poorer, more isolated, and more divided than it was before. Orban promised greatness. He delivered destruction and lasting instability. Moreover, corruption is no longer a side effect of his Gangsterocracy. It is the chief operating system of his government. Viktor Orban’s nationalism is equally fraudulent. It is parasitism wrapped in the national flag. He screams about sovereignty, while selling Hungary’s future to Moscow and Beijing.
History is unforgiving to leaders who mistake tyranny for the best form of government to advance a nation politically, economically, and culturally. Perhaps, following the upcoming April 12th elections, the Hungarian voters will finally dispose of Orban’s Gangsterocracy. However, the nagging question for the government that might follow him will remain: How much damage will be left to repair when the new government will take the reins?