Hungary: the big leap back – Paris Match

How does a country fall into the shadows? You have to leave Budapest, its trendy bars, its green mayor, to meet those who support Viktor Orban, applaud his freedom-killing laws despite admonitions from the European Union. The Commission announced on 15 July that it had launched infringement proceedings against Hungary over thea law prohibiting the “promotion of homosexuality among minors “. In this country of 10 million souls, the film “Billy Elliot” by Stephen Daldry can no longer be shown on TV and “Confusion of Feelings” by Stefan Zweig is considered a dangerous book.

With Orban, Hungary fell into authoritarianism

A turbulent ex-pupil of the Soviet bloc, Hungary does not smell of sanctity. With Orban, she fell into authoritarianism, after years of neoliberal policy led by the socialists: “For eight years he ruled in Kadar [un communiste réformateur]. The opposition was tolerated. But since 2018 he has governed like Matyas Rakosi, the Hungarian Stalin, ”explains an anonymous professor. That year, Orban almost lost the legislative elections. Since then, he has cut off heads, attacks NGOs in the pocketbook, takes control of the media, theaters, universities, which have come under a regime of private foundations supervised by his party, Fidesz. He multiplies the laws against minorities, builds an anti-migrant wall and a mortal enemy is created, George Soros (American billionaire of Hungarian origin, symbol of the hated West), attacked every day in the media. The country is growing steadily but lives on a drip from European subsidies.

Campaigning for the legislative elections of 2022 against the coalition of all opposition parties, Orban presents himself as a defender of the rural middle classes, and his kingdom is located in eastern Hungary. In Debrecen, he never loses. Close to the Romanian border, it is the second largest city in the country. In the street, no police, nothing that distinguishes the heart of the Fidesz bastion, except a provincial languor, a clean city center, a reformed church with two ocher bell towers and terraces crushed by the summer heat. The university is closed. In Budapest, a French diplomat suggested that we ask the inhabitants this simple question: “What is it for you to be Hungarian?” Robent Ganyo narrows his clear eyes and his billhooked face crumples. This 43-year-old server has always voted Orban. “To be Hungarian? I think first of the Kingdom of Hungary, when the country was strong, united. I cry every time while listening to our hymn. But I don’t know if I will vote Orban again, because the corruption is becoming too visible. “

A little further, in a wooded park, two young women are chatting on a bench. Rika and Vivianne are 18 and 20 years old. They will vote for Orban next year. Without passion: “He helps families”, they assure. In order to fight against the fragile birth rate of the country (1.54 children per woman), the family policy of the Hungarian Prime Minister facilitates bank loans for families with more than two children. Further on, three shirtless guys lock a local rosé in the shade of an oak. Shaved head, the word “Chikago” tattooed on his chest, Attila Kavacs looks like those football fans who chanted racist and homophobic remarks during the Euro: “I find Orban’s policy against migrants stupid. They are men like us. »Bigre! Where are the real Orban fans?

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Orban is the clown on duty, a puppet. I feel more European than Hungarian because of this government

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Not on this terrace where Petra sips a soda. She is 16, wears a crop top banned in her high school and, on her arm, a bag in the rainbow colors of the LGBTQ + movement. Bisexual, she later wants to leave Hungary, and this bag shows her resistance. She is sorry: “Mentalities do not change. People have prejudices, they are very Christian. Petra began to engage when the Hungarian government passed another law in 2019 to prohibit anyone from changing their gender. “For Orban, transsexuals are people who have had heartache, that’s the level. For my generation, he’s that old uncle you’re a little ashamed of. But he is not going to stop the changes in society on his own! At the station, Melinda, 42, a surgical nurse, also said she was shocked by the law. She refuses to be photographed, because her head of department is pro-Orban and she doesn’t want any problems. “Orban is the clown on duty, a puppet. For two years now, I have felt more European than Hungarian because of this government. “

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Hungarians on the outside vote for him

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Debrecen is perhaps too urban: one will not meet there chemically pure orbanists. You have to go deeper into the Hungary of the villages, through the puszta, the immense grassy and bushy steppe that stretches out in the east of the country. At Nordkosma, the bar in the village of Szentpeterszeg, very close to the Romanian border, Lazlo Kovac, 62, a railway worker, dances in front of a jukebox decorated with a pin-up, a glass of palinka in his hand. Apple alcohol makes her complexion rosy, her siskin is worthy of Cyrano’s. Around him, a dozen sullen guys are killing time. A sad Eiffel Tower decorates one of the decrepit walls. “We vote for Orban because we have no choice. I earn 800 euros per month. It’s difficult for little ones like us. “Overalls and blue eyes, Andras interrupts his friend:” Homos, they do what they want, as long as it’s between four walls. »« Me, Balint annoys, I don’t like Orban. He is corrupt. »Chiseled skin. Sandals and socks. Solid. “We avoid talking about politics, because the divisions between us are growing stronger. And I’ll tell you, we are also afraid of Orban. “” Me, proudly blurted out a mustache man in the prime of his life, I am not afraid of him. I have a small housekeeping business. The problem is, if you don’t have contact with Fidesz, you don’t have any contract. Contrary to what you think, here we are not really voting Orban. Hungarians on the outside vote for him. Those from Romania who come by bus here to vote for him. “

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We hit the road in the puszta. The horizon stretches to infinity. Not a hill, the earth is leveled for tens of kilometers. Suddenly a farm. Two heat-stupid men take care of a hundred sheep. “Hungarians from outside”. In 1920, when the Treaty of Trianon dismantled Hungary, a third of its population found itself outside its new borders. Orban returned the nationality to these Hungarians abroad. Lajos Szabo is one of them. He is 45 years old. Shirtless, straws on his cheeks, his eyebrows furrowed, he is Sicule (Hungarian from Transylvania), born in Romania, who came to work here two years ago to double his salary, barely 300 euros: “Orban helps the children of Hungarian minorities, it gives money to our families. So, obviously, we vote for him, ”he concedes. The lambs bleat, we talk about homosexuality: “I’m not interested in all that. I’ve never met a gay person, I just know it exists. Everyone does what he wants. Me, I do not worry; my son would be homosexual, it would always be my son. “

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Thanks to Orban, finally, Europe no longer looks down on us

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We were desperate to find a true supporter of Orban in his own stronghold, and then we finally came across Mezo Gyula, the mayor of the village of Gaborjan, 894 souls. A big guy in a Lacoste T-shirt, a former butcher, one of the few Roma mayors in Hungary: “If you’ve been told bad things about Orban, it’s because you’ve been lied to,” he smiles. The side alleys are mowed; the town hall, freshly painted. “It is thanks to state subsidies that we were able to rehabilitate the village. »Mezo Gyula shows us around his town. About forty workers take advantage of community service put in place by Fidesz to give odd jobs to the unemployed. In the purest Magyar tradition, they weave rugs with ancestral crafts. This is how we encourage people to vote Fidesz… Mezo Gyula takes us to see his friend Shandor Micskai, a farmer he has known for twenty years, 2 meters high, as wide as a cistern, also a voter of Orban. The farm is huge, clean, square. Sheep, pigs, cows, 500 hectares of land. “Without Europe,” Shandor admits, “I couldn’t hold out. It’s up to 20% of my budget. All this worries me. I believe that Orban does not know where the limits are, he is looking for them and I hope they will eventually come to an agreement with the EU. “

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Much to the chagrin of his friend, Shandor thinks the law on homosexuality is ridiculous: “Orban mixes homosexuality and pedophilia, and he attacks migrants to win the elections. It’s grotesque. “Mezo Gyula scowls:” Muslim migrants do not accept our way of life. And I don’t want my son to talk about homosexuality at school! Shandor sighs: “The migrants, they just cross. Everyone is leaving Hungary! As for those who do not accept gays, it is the same who do not accept Roma, I would point out to you. The farmer admits that he will still vote Fidesz in 2022, because the opposition coalition is too heterogeneous. Then he leaves the last word to his friend: “Everything I have done as mayor to help people is thanks to Orban grants. I changed the nursery school beds which were older than me. This is what I am most proud of. “He lets go of what he thinks is a joke:” And then, thanks to Orban, finally, Europe no longer looks down on us. “

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