Tour of Italy in Hungary: shine through sport, Viktor Orban’s strategy

Published on: 06/05/2022 – 09:54 Freshly re-elected for a fourth term, the Hungarian Prime Minister will see the Giro set off proudly from Budapest on Friday May 6, one of the major cycling events of the season . An ally of Vladimir Putin, Viktor Orban took his example from the Russian president by attracting major sporting events in order to restore his image with his people. Sport is like a tool of soft power in the hands of the Hungarian Prime Minister. Less than a year after hosting four Euro football matches, Hungary signs another first in Magyar history by attracting one of the two biggest cycling races in the world. With the start of the Tour of Italy on Friday May 6 in Budapest, Viktor Orban’s Hungary is collecting yet another world sporting event. which has just been reinforced by a fourth landslide victory in the legislative elections. Football fanatic and ex-semi-professional player, Viktor Orban has made no secret of his ambitions to revive the golden years of “historic Greater Hungary”. “, that of before the First World War. Increasingly, his government is trying to use sport – especially football – to achieve domestic political goals, but also to see Hungary regain some influence in the region. Vladimir Putin’s strategy Semi-finals and final of the Euro men’s handball in the brand new Budapest Arena last January, swimming world championships in June in the Duna Arena, then the world championships in athletics, next year in a new stadium under construction on the east bank of the Danube… The list of competitions hosted in Hungary is long. Last year, two world judo championships were also hosted by Budapest, and before that in 2017, when Russian President Vladimir Putin was Orban’s guest of honor. Since 2010, the Hungarian Prime Minister has approached the strong man of Moscow, whose inflation he imitated in the organization of competitions, until the banishment of Russia from world sport since the invasion. ion of Ukraine.►► Also read on France24.com: War in Ukraine: sport by sport, the sanctions taken against RussiaHowever, unlike its neighbor to the East, Hungary never hosted a FIFA World Cup or an Olympics. Budapest’s candidacy for the 2024 Olympics was withdrawn a few months before the award in 2017. to organize a referendum against Budapest’s candidacy for the 2024 Summer Olympics. The Russian president, for his part, had succeeded in bringing to Russia the two flagship sporting events of the planet: the Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014, and the 2018 World Cup. But nothing to stop Orban. In Hungary, infrastructures are multiplying in spite of everything. In addition to the recent Olympic swimming pool (Duna Arena) and the future athletics stadium, the city also has the Budapest Sportarena which hosted the Final 4 of the Handball Champions League last year, but also the majestic Puskas Arena, opened in 2019 and which alone cost nearly 600 million euros. For Orban, sport is “a tool to legitimize his authority”Despite the snub inflicted by Momentum [parti centriste hongrois] to the nationalist right in power, the 58-year-old Prime Minister has not said goodbye to his dream of the Olympics. The latter believes that with a growing number of ultramodern stadiums, Budapest’s chances increase. that he”[était] more and more evident every year that Hungary [était] worthy of hosting the Olympics.” “The possibility has gone away, for now. But hosting the Olympics is an eternal dream for Hungarians. A love that never ends”, ignited the leader with an authoritarian style. “Today, sport is a political weapon”, sums up Lukas Aubin, associate researcher at Iris, specializing in the geopolitics of the sport and Russia.”Even if it doesn’t work that much to improve one’s image abroad, it is a tool to legitimize one’s authority, to justify the importance of one’s regime.” image of the president was not consolidated abroad, but it worked inside”, supports the researcher, author of the book “La sportokratura sous Vladimir Poutine”. Passionate about football, Viktor Orban also used his favorite sport as an instrument of national affirmation. Most of the big clubs are under the leadership of people close to the Prime Minister. “For years, the income that can be garnered in Hungarian football has not depended on the market, but on political-economic relations, specialist Gabor Szabados explains to Slate. Each club tries to find a suitable owner. Those with the best political connections allow their club to succeed economically.” On Wednesday, in this country with a weak cycling tradition, a compact crowd gathered in Budapest’s Heroes’ Square to attend the presentation of the teams. With, in the spotlight, the Hungarian Attila Valter, who last year became the first representative of his country to endorse the pink jersey of the Giro. With AFP