Jobbik declares ‘resistance to Orbán regime’ at congress

The conservative opposition Jobbik party, at a party congress on Saturday, pledged resistance against the Fidesz government and vowed to overturn the “regime” of Viktor Orbán.

At a news conference after its 25th congress, party leader Tamas Sneider said Jobbik had not changed its way of thinking but was adjusting its goals and identity “to the current situation”.

He said the opposition party with the most members and most grassroots organisations had a huge responsibility in facing a government with a two-thirds majority in a system that was creepingly dictatorial, increasingly corrupt, and more and more despised by the Hungarian people.

“Soon we’ll have to worry that Hungary will be synonymous with theft and robbery around the world, and we’ll be ashamed to be Hungarian,” he said, adding that everything must be done to prevent this from happening.

Top priorities, he said, would be to reverse current demographic trends and to rescue an economy that appeared to be more fragile than under Orbán’s Socialist predecessor.

“We want to see a proud, self-conscious Hungarian nation,” he said.

Sneider noted that Jobbik defines itself as a Christian national party and this declaration is enshrined in its party tenets.

Márton Gyöngyösi, Jobbik’s parliamentary group leader, insisted the party was united, stable and growing.

The congress, he said, unanimously voted to proclaim “national resistance”, adding that the party stood for “serious goals”.

“Everyone who wants to overturn the … regime today should present a credible alternative,” he said.

Jobbik’s European Parliament election manifesto will contain three central messages: fighting external threats such as migration, tackling social problems like poverty and emigration, and promoting autonomy with a view to ensuring the survival of Hungarians beyond the borders, he said.

Jobbik politician Péter Jakab said party membership had “not changed substantially” over the past year.

Asked about Jobbik‘s policy on forming party alliances, he said the issue was not on the agenda for now. Referring to both Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and former Socialist PM Ferenc Gyurcsány, he added that “it is very difficult for parties to cooperate at any level with those that have taken part in plundering Hungary in the last decades.” He said any ties with the green opposition party LMP had not been discussed at the congress.