Jobbik

MEP Gyöngyösi: Jobbik’s mission is to redefine conservative politics in Hungary

MEP Gyöngyösi non-attached

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MEP Márton Gyöngyösi’s (Non-attached) thoughts via press release:

History never favoured Hungary’s civic progress and nor did it help the formation of civic parties. The idea of a value-based, consistently conservative and centre-right party has completely faded out of the Hungarian political spectrum of the recent years. In its congress held last week, Jobbik decided to put an end to this situation and, with the support of the delegates, adopted a new political line and name. From now on, the party continues under the name of Jobbik – Conservatives. 

As I said in my congress address, we want to conduct a civic policy that is considered a novelty in Hungary as it focuses on individual responsibility, human dignity and the creation of an efficient state. We want to get Hungary’s public discourse rid of the social populism that has completely dominated it. We reject the kind of communication that plays exclusively on people’s fears while also promising to protect ever-growing government structures.

In the western sense of the word, Jobbik – Conservatives aims to be a European conservative party that equally appreciates tradition and future-forward policies. 

As I noted, being conservative means that we represent the legacy of Greek philosophy, Roman law and Judeo-Christian cultural traditions; the legacy which created Europe and which we are an inseparable part of. We respect our Hungarian traditions and we believe belonging to our community is a value. Dedication to our homeland, nation and the traditional family is an absolute moral standard for us. We acknowledge the human differences that drive us to compete with each other and strive for excellence, but we also believe it is our moral duty to alleviate the disadvantages of the losers, because solidarity and helping the weaker is a value. We recognize the authority that arises from success, knowledge, experience, learning and hard work under any circumstances. This is the foundation of our respect for the fellow human being and our belief in individual responsibility. Populists prefer vulnerable, subservient and helpless subjects.  We, on the other hand, love conscientious and goal-oriented citizens who stand up for themselves and create value. We believe in the primacy of human dignity, which we derive from the divine revelation.

We reject any effort that violates human dignity and we reject every ideology that uses people as tools and denies their freedom, but we equally reject any idea that promotes anti-social behaviour under the aegis of unrestricted self-realization. 

On the other hand, we are also centre-right, because we reject the omnipotence of the state, and we believe that human freedom involves the freedom of communities as well. We believe the purpose of the state and politics is not to regulate people’s daily lives or promise solutions for each and every problem they may have. We believe the purpose of responsible policy is to create the right conditions, such as legal security, stable circumstances, high-quality education as well as social systems that incentivize self-support, which allow everyone to achieve their goals subject to their best effort, diligence and resilience. That’s why we reject any form of social demagogy.

We reject needless state intervention, price caps that fuel inflation and shortages, and we also reject any tax system that becomes inconsistent due to all the special taxes. We reject needless centralization and support the self-organization of the society.

We believe the protection and enrichment of the community as a whole is not just the institutions’ task, but that of the communities and citizens as well. 

I hope that our renewed party will clear the obstacles in our way, because the Orbán regime more and more clearly aims to lead Hungary out of the European Union and build a Russian vassal state in the middle of Europe.

Disclaimer: the sole liability for the opinions stated rests with the author(s). These opinions do not necessarily reflect the official position of the European Parliament.

Latest poll: only four opposition parties above the parliamentary threshold

orbán

The ruling Fidesz and Christian Democrat parties have maintained solid lead ahead of the opposition parties with support of 52 percent, a recent poll conducted by pro-government Nézőpont Institute and released on Monday showed.

Among the opposition parties, the Democratic Coalition (DK) remained the strongest, supported by 12 percent, and can be seen “as a winner” since last April’s general election, according to the poll published in daily Magyar Nemzet.

The radical Mi Hazánk party, which entered parliament last year, has significantly increased its voter base to 9 percent.

Support for the satirical Two-Tailed Dog party has gun up three-fold, to also 9 percent, Nézőpont said.

The pollster said Momentum would just make it into parliament by clearing the five-percent threshold.

Among the other opposition parties, neither Jobbik, nor the Socialists, LMP or Párbeszéd would receive enough votes to enter parliament if the election was held on Sunday, said the poll.

As we wrote on Saturday, opposition Jobbik Movement for a Better Hungary has changed its name, details HERE.

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Read also Opposition parties: Orbán is liar, Putinist hangman, traitor, etc

A Hungarian party changed its name – here is the new

Jobbik

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According to MEP Márton Gyöngyösi (Non-attached) and leader of the party, Opposition Jobbik Movement for a Better Hungary has changed its name to Jobbik – Conservatives.

This is the only party in Hungary to represent civic values and a consistent centre-right policy, he said. Contrasting the other opposition parties with the governing Fidesz, the president said the former are trying to adopt the West’s “lifestyle-leftism”, while the latter is building a real communist regime, complete with a cult of personality, excessive state intervention and price fixing.

 The president believes Jobbik – Conservatives needs to reach out to the middle class and conduct the kind of policy that was first adopted by Hungary’s late centre-right Prime Minister József Antall who set out in the footsteps of Robert Schuman and Konrad Adenauer after the collapse of Communism. Gyöngyösi identified the representation of a European yet patriotic policy as his party’s most important goal. With its new image, Jobbik – Conservatives will focus on the respect for human dignity.

MEP Gyöngyösi non-attached
Photo: Jobbik

Hungary’s EU membership was also a central topic of the event.

The president of Jobbik – Conservatives said: Europe has been the symbol of security, freedom and welfare for seventy years.

Jobbik – Conservatives will stop at nothing to prevent the national tragedy that would be brought on by a potential Huxit. Europe has stood for freedom, democracy and human dignity which Putin wants to destroy, first in Ukraine, then in the whole of Europe. However, there are some politicians who feel closer to the people who are responsible for the Russian massacre than to the leaders of the free world. One of them is Viktor Orbán, who openly serves Moscow’s interest to undermine the European Union.

The full speech with English subtitles:

Here is Gyöngyösi’s Facebook post:

 To support the new name and the new image, Gyöngyösi asked the participants to wear the badge representing the flag with a hole, which became the symbol of Hungary’s 1956 revolution, as the emblem of unconditional patriotism and resistance to Russian conquest. As we wrote before, Non-Attached MEP Gyöngyösi gave a flag with a hole in it to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the European Parliament to express that there is another Hungary besides Orbán’s.

Disclaimer: the sole liability for the opinions stated rests with the author(s). These opinions do not necessarily reflect the official position of the European Parliament.

Opposition parties: Orbán is liar, Putinist hangman, traitor, etc

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Hungarian opposition parties on Saturday reacted to a keynote speech by Viktor Orbán, saying the prime minister had failed to address Hungary’s “real problems”.

Commenting on Orbán’s speech today assessing the state of the nation over the past year, the Democratic Coalition said in a statement that Orban had “made a desperate attempt” to explain away “his government’s failings” over the past 12 years. The leftist party said Orban had become isolated in Europe and had lost Hungary’s EU funding as well as his European allies.

The right-wing Jobbik party’s leader Mátron Gyöngyösi said Orban was “a danger to Hungary”, and called the prime minister “Putin’s last ally in Europe” who wanted “Hungary out of the European Union”. “Orbán preaches peace, but he’s at war with his European allies…” he said. Under Orbán’s watch, Hungarians were witnessing the highest food-price inflation in Europe, he said, and he accused the prime minister of waging “a war against teachers” and “cheating nurses” out of a promised pay increase.

LMP lawmaker Máté Kanász-Nagy said in a video on Facebook that Orbán in his speech had shirked responsibility, while failing to explain how the government intended to handle the country’s “suffocating” energy dependence.

The radical Mi Hazánk party said Orbán in his speech should have unveiled a plan to create a national economy based on the food industry with a view to halting “brutal” inflation. He said the population was dwindling, Hungarians were getting poorer, and people found it hard to afford basic foods.

The liberal Momentum party’s leader Ferenc Gelencsér said in a statement that politics in Hungary was “a nightmare” of “lies played on a loop by blind populists”. He said price caps were “not working” and that Orban’s work-based society did not provide the security of a livelihood. Furthermore, he said that under the Fidesz government, “Russia is our friend and the EU is our enemy”.

Ágnes Kunhalmi, the co-leader of the Socialist Party, said in a statement that Orbán had shifted the blame for the country’s woes to factors such as the war and the EU from his own policymaking, and the prime minister “repeated his lie that the opposition is pro-war”. Also, Orbán’s charge that the opposition demanded the abolition of price caps was “untrue”, she said.

The liberal Párbeszéd party said in statement that Orbán should have admitted in his speech that “Hungarian food inflation in 2022 was top of the European scoreboard” and that families were overwhelmed by utility bills they are unable to pay”. Orbán, it added, had also failed to take the blame for Hungary being the “shame of Europe” and admit that he was alone in supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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Two-thirds victory for the opposition in Jászberény

lóránt budai

Opposition candidate Lóránt Budai won a huge victory in Sunday’s by-election in Jászberény, with the opposition alliance’s candidate winning in ten out of ten individual districts.

With a turnout of nearly 60% (59.75%), the right-wing mayoral candidate for Közösen Jászberényért received more than twice as many votes as Orsolya Besenyi, who was supported by Fidesz but called herself independent.

In all ten single-member constituencies, the candidate of the Joint Party for Jászberény won, with all opposition parties (Jobbik, MSZP, Momentum and the All Hungary Movement) except DK participating in the alliance.

In the newly constituted body of representatives, including the mayor, there will be 11 members of the Közösen Jászberényért association, while Fidesz-KDNP won four seats from the compensation list. The Mi Hazánk Mozgalom (Our Homeland Movement) did not make it into the board.

read also – Police officer’s death: Socialists, Jobbik propose committee hearing of interior minister, police chief

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Police officer’s death: Socialists, Jobbik propose committee hearing of interior minister, police chief

Police officer murdered in Budapest

Opposition lawmakers on Monday proposed the committee hearing of Interior Minister Sándor Pintér and national police chief János Balogh in connection with a case that left one policeman dead and two injured last week.

Last week, police accosted a man who seemed to be breaking into a flat in Budapest. The man stabbed three policemen before being shot in the leg and arrested while trying to flee.

Socialist Tamás Harangozó and Jobbik’s László György Lukács, the deputy heads of parliament’s defence and public safety committee, proposed to convene the committee and hear Pintér and Balogh on the details of the investigation.

They proposed to expand the hearing to the matter of issuing body armour and bodycams for policemen working as patrolmen, money guards or on railways, the statement said.

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Hungarian universities excluded from Erasmus, here are the opposition reactions

Corvinus University of Budapest

The Democratic Coalition (DK), Jobbik, Momentum and LMP opposition parties have issued a statement objecting to the government policy of allowing politicians to sit on the boards of trustees of universities run by foundations.

The statement was made after a press report suggesting that universities run by foundations will not receive fresh funding as part of the EU’s Erasmus programme – under which students from Hungary can study abroad — and Horizon Europe research and innovation schemes, details HERE: Breaking news! EU withdraws Erasmus support from Hungarian foundation universities

DK is introducing a bill to prohibit state leaders and incumbent lawmakers from sitting on boards of trustees of universities managed by foundations, the party’s deputy group leader, Gergely Arató, told an online press briefing on Monday. He added that the European Commission had already declared as “unacceptable” the government putting public universities “in the hands of trustees led by politicians”.

Jobbik deputy group leader Koloman Brenner said students and lecturers should not be punished for the government’s policy of putting certain universities into the hands of foundations. He called on the government to start negotiations with foundation-run institutions — especially the large scientific universities — on returning them to the state as a matter of urgency.

Momentum MEP Katalin Cseh said in a statement that her party had turned to the Commission asking it not to exclude Hungarian students from the Erasmus programme owing to “the corruption of [PM Viktor] Orban and his people”.

LMP said in a statement that the ruling Fidesz party had not consulted anyone before changing the Hungarian university system. Reforming Hungary’s higher education sector, it added, was “a national matter”, and the country’s future prosperity was at stake. LMP wants strict rules on conflict of interest to be established, it said.

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Hungarians face a dilemma whether to heat or buy food?

Poor-Hungarian-sad

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán “has lost control over what happens in Hungary”, a member of the opposition Democratic Coalition said on Wednesday, insisting that the prime minister “didn’t touch on people’s everyday problems” in his international press briefing earlier in the day “because he cannot resolve them”.

Csaba Molnár said the prime minister had made it clear in his presser that “the country cannot expect the government to make a turnaround”, adding that “policies of the past 12 years, which have destroyed the country … will stay”. “As long as Orbán stays, the crisis will stay and the longer he stays the bigger the problem will grow,” he insisted.

Conservative Jobbik insisted that “it was the Orbán government the made 2022 the most difficult year for Hungary since the political regime change” of 1989. The prime minister’s presser “has projected what we can expect in 2023: lies, even more lies, and no responsible government or decisions”, the party said in a statement. They insisted the government had failed to manage the crisis and its “ill-advised” economic policy had driven the country to the brink of bankruptcy, while Orban “pointed the finger at the war, the EP, and Brussels” in his press briefing.

They said the government had “bled people and businesses dry” by changing the small business tax, while people are “being destroyed through record-high VAT” and they “have to face the situation of wages and pensions being despicably low even in a regional comparison”.

The Momentum party said ruling Fidesz “even lied in the face of its own voters” and the government’s work had been “chaotic” in 2022. In his press briefing the prime minister had “blamed others and shunned responsibility for Hungary’s worst times in recent decades”. They said Orbán’s referring to “exceptional achievements” and not mentioning an economic and cost-of-living crisis hitting the country was “both shocking and desperate”.

Momentum pointed to the “price cap inflation” of food prices, soaring energy costs, and the weakness of the Hungarian currency and insisted that “many families will face a dilemma at the end of the month whether to heat their home or buy food”.

Orbán, Momentum said, could “only blame the sanctions he himself voted for, the minister he appointed, an economic system he introduced and the governor of the central bank chosen by his own party”.

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Multinationals benefitting from Hungary-EU deal? – opposition reactions

Joint opposition Hungary Budapest demonstration rally

“Multinational companies have scored a win yet again,” the deputy group leader of opposition LMP said on Tuesday, referring to an agreement between the Hungarian government and the European Union on the proposed global minimum tax.

The compromise reached “is one that large capitalists would be glad to see”, Mate Kanász-Nagy told a press conference, adding that thanks to Hungary’s exemption from applying the minimum tax, large corporates would also be exempted from paying higher corporation taxes. Hungary will “remain a tax haven”, and international companies will “pay less to employees than, for example, in Germany” and also enjoy the benefits of more lenient environmental rules, he said. Kanász-Nagy called for an “alternative” solution that supported small and medium-sized companies and the public sector.

Opposition on decision to approve Hungarian recovery plan

Hungarian opposition parties on Tuesday reacted to the proposal by EU member state ambassadors on approving Hungary’s recovery plan, which is expected to result in EU leaders unblocking of the country’s recovery funds. The Democratic Coalition insisted Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had been dealt a big blow in Europe, having “failed” to immediately secure recovery funds, while a large portion of cohesion money had also been frozen despite Orbán having “caved” on the issue of the EU loan to Ukraine and the global minimum tax.

Momentum said Orbán bore sole responsibility for Hungary receiving less money from the EU, adding that more than 4,800 billion forints (EUR 11.7bn) in EU funding still hung in the balance. The Socialists said the risk that a large portion of catch-up funds would be withdrawn was ever present, and Orban had merely secured a reprieve and must show the government can comply with European norms. The budget, it added, would now have access to enough funding to stave off “an even bigger crisis”.

Jobbik said the government had “backed down” on EU support for Ukraine and the global minimum tax, and yet its single biggest duty to secure the funding to help Hungarian citizens had not been fulfilled. LMP said the decision of EU ambassadors was good for large European companies, given that Hungary has been exempted from applying the global minimum tax. “Hungary can remain a tax haven,” it added.

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Budapest mayor welcomes agreement concerning EU funds

“We are glad that the European Union and the government have reached an agreement,” Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony told a press conference on Tuesday in reaction to news that Hungary’s EU recovery funding is likely to be unblocked. The government is “now obliged” to meet the community’s requirements before the funds can actually be accessed, the mayor added.

Karácsony said he was glad that Hungary would receive grants from the recovery fund, and urged the government that it should use the mechanism’s loan component, too. Money borrowed under the mechanism could be used in full to rebuild the country’s energy system, he added. Karácsony, who is co-leader of the Association of Hungarian Municipalities (MÖSZ), said the funds should also go to local councils, adding that “reducing Hungary’s dependence on Russian gas and completing a green transition could hardly be possible without changing municipal energy provision”.

Answering a question, Karácsony said “ideally” the recovery funds should be divided up equally between central investment projects, private investment projects, and municipal services.

Ujhelyi: EU protecting Hungarians’ interests against government

The European Commission has demonstrated that it can act in cooperation with EU member states against the government of a country to protect the interests of that country’s citizens from their government, opposition Socialist MEP István Ujhelyi said on Tuesday. Ujhelyi told an online press conference in Strasbourg that “notwithstanding the best efforts of the [Hungarian] propaganda machine, it is hard to present Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s retreat as a triumph when he has also been issued with an official document showing that [his government] violated the rule of law and abused EU resources.”

It is the first time in EU history that it is officially stated that a member state government severely violated the rule of law and consequently a part of its EU funding has been frozen, he said. “If ruling Fidesz does not implement the amendments to scale back its System of National Cooperation (NER) as promised, then Hungary could lose the 8,000 billion forints which is now frozen, including 4,800 billion euros non-refundable support, for good”, he said.

Ujhelyi said that Monday’s meeting also revealed that the Hungarian government had exploited the global minimum tax and support for Ukraine as “a means of blackmail and to thwart cooperation”.

Opposition Jobbik: Fidesz is risking Hungary’s EU funds

Koloman Brenner Jobbik

Fidesz should not risk losing Hungarian EU funds which “belong to Hungarian citizens”, Brenner Koloman, the opposition Jobbik party’s deputy group leader, said on Sunday.

The ruling Fidesz party’s parliamentary majority has endorsed an “extreme anti-European political statement” that “puts EU funding at risk”, Koloman told an online press briefing on Wednesday. He said Jobbik rejected extreme positions, so it holds that neither a United States of Europe nor “the extreme anti-European standpoint” of Fidesz was in the interests of Hungarians.

The Jobbik politician said 12 years ago Hungary became a “single-party state approaching authoritarian countries as Russia, Turkey and China, while Fidesz went as far as attacking members of the German or Dutch parliaments.”

Jobbik allies itself with the position of the founding fathers of the EU — Christian European politicians who believed in the social market economy and good cooperation between European nations, he said. “The rule of law is an old European conservative value,” he said, calling for “balanced civic democracy” and action against “Fidesz corruption”. Only then will Hungary secure its EU funding, he added.

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Cheaper fuel prices will return in Hungary? – UPDATED

MOL fuel station Hungary oil

Lawmakers of opposition Jobbik on Wednesday submitted a proposal to lower taxes on fuel, in light of the government’s announcement of scrapping the price caps on fuel, deputy party leader Róbert Dudás said.

Dudás called for the government to start talks with the European Commission on reducing the VAT and excise tax on fuel prices. The government should at the same time stop counting on “extra profits” from taxing high fuel prices, he told an online press conference. He called for restoring fuel supply first at the 500-600 small pumps in the countryside, arguing that “the everyday life of locals depend on the operation of these pumps that are facing closure”.

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Other opposition demands protection for Hungarians after govt scrapping fuel price caps

Green opposition LMP said that scrapping the price caps is only “a partial remedy” to problems emerging in the transport sector. “The sudden increase in fuel prices will put a burden on many families,” Erzsébet Schmuck, the co-leader of the party told a press conference, said. LMP urges “a green reform”, calling on the government to support renewable energy while phasing out fossil fuels, she said.

Bence Tordai, the deputy group leader of Párbeszéd, told a press conference that by scrapping the fuel price cap, “the government is starting to admit that they are incompetent as well as sticky-handed.” He called for the support of community transport and people rather than fossil fuels. He proposed introducing a utility voucher to compensate families for the price increases and introducing a four-day work week in a bid to reduce energy consumption.

The Democratic Coalition (DK) slammed the decision as “another government austerity measure”. László Varju, the party’s deputy leader, said fuel would now cost “twice to two-and-a-half times as much” as it had under the Socialist government of Ferenc Gyurcsány, DK’s leader, between 2004 and 2009. “At least that’s what it’ll cost when there’s fuel again,” Varju said, arguing that Hungary was currently the only European country “where it’s impossible to refuel”. He accused the government of “lying”, saying there was no oil sanction in effect that applied to Hungary.

Ruling Fidesz said the leftist opposition “continues to support the sanctions”. In a statement, they insisted that the leftist parties “in return for dollars rolling in try to prove that the sanctions are working, while the fuel price caps had to be scrapped because of those very sanctions.”

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Hungary gas consumption down by 41 pc yr/yr in October

Gas consumption in Hungary fell by an annual 41 percent to 5.8 TWh in October, a monthly report by the Hungarian Energy and Public Utilities Regulatory Office (HEA) shows. HEA said about half of the decline was due to milder temperatures. However, adjusting for the better weather, consumption still fell by 23 percent. Gas stores were topped up with 8.2 TWh in October, bringing the total to 58 TWh.

Opposition party believes Orbán conducts an irrational war against Brussels

PM Orbán

The opposition Párbeszéd party on Friday slammed government policy, saying the “irrational war with Brussels is threatening Hungary’s fundamental stability.”

Although the European Commission’s proposal to withhold funding worth 3000 billion forints (EUR 7.3bn) is “not necessarily equivalent to the scrapping of the funds”, the delay will cause “grave problems in the budget”, he said.

The approval of Hungary’s recovery plan means merely that the 2,000 billion forints allocated for the purpose “are not lost forever”. The proposal will have to be adopted by the member states at a meeting on Dec. 6, he added. That vote will come after decisions on two topics the Hungarian government has earlier threatened to veto, the aid to Ukraine and the matter of the corporate minimum tax, he said.

“If those mutual threats are be implemented, it will hurt Hungary immeasurably more,” he said.

Opposition parties slam Orban remarks on sanctions, energy supplies

Opposition parties have criticised Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s statements on European Union sanctions against Russia, energy supplies and aid for Ukraine, in his regular interview with public broadcaster Kossuth Rádió on Friday. Conservative Jobbik said that Orbán had “lost sight of reality”, noting that the prime minister had voted in favour of all sanctions against Russia in the EU. At the same time, Orbán failed to address the fact that Hungarian food price growth had outstripped all other European countries’ and that the forint had plunged into record depths in the autumn. The government “has cancelled the utility price cut scheme and is causing a shortage economy with its price caps harking back to the communist era,” the party said. Meanwhile, “Hungary and Hungarians are stripped of the EU monies they are entitled to, because of Viktor Orbán and his government,” Jobbik said.

Momentum leader Ferenc Gelencsér, reacting to Orban’s statement that “Hungarians have understood that, whether they like it or not, Ukraine needs support”, said Hungarian society had taken a “humane and fair” approach to Ukrainians and Transcarpathia Hungarians. “It was not the government but civil organisations, which the government has been persecuting for years, who took the lion’s share in helping people fleeing Ukraine and those staying in their homeland,” he said.

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LMP said that contrary to what Orbán said, Russian gas was not cheap and “the prime minister said himself that the long-term contract concluded with Russia last year was no guarantee for secure supplies.” The solution would be a green transition, the party said.

Ruling Fidesz responded by saying that “the pro-war and pro-sanction stance” of the left-wing opposition parties “threaten Hungary”. They would sacrifice Hungary’s security and energy supply in exchange for “rolling foreign dollars”, the party said in a statement. The left-wing parties continue to lobby for sanctions by Brussels which will destroy Europe and threaten the Hungarian economy and the livelihood of Hungarian families, it said.

Jobbik proposes constitutional amendment and central bank law due to the weak forint

Opposition Jobbik proposes amending the constitution and the law on the central bank so as to protect the forint, deputy party leader Dániel Z Kárpát said on Tuesday.

Jobbik wants preserving the value of the national currency to be enshrined in the basic law as a government task, he told a press conference. Further, the party wants the central bank to be obliged by law to set an exchange rate target for the forint, he said.

The exchange rate of the euro against the forint was around 266 at the time of the change of government in 2010, he said. This year, the exchange rate shifted permanently above 400, which is reflected in prices and inflates Hungarians’ salaries and savings, he added.

Z Kárpát accused ruling Fidesz of purposely weakening the forint in the interest of export-oriented multinational companies.

He said Jobbik would submit the two amendments to parliament this week.

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Jobbik wants Soviet monument removed from Budapest’s Liberty Square

Budapest monument

Opposition Jobbik on Monday said it is submitting to parliament a draft resolution aimed at removing the Soviet Red Army monument from Budapest’s Liberty Square.

With the approach of the Oct. 23 national holiday marking Hungary’s 1956 anti-Soviet uprising, “Russia’s war in Ukraine and its gas blackmail of Europe”, it is worth raising the question of what the monument is doing in a square named after liberty, Jobbik parliamentary group leader László György Lukács told a press conference.

The monument, he said, “offends all of our sense of justice and makes a mockery of the memory of 1956 and Hungarians’ sense of freedom”.

Lukács said that contrary to public opinion, there was nothing stopping Hungary from removing the monument from the square, arguing that there were no longer any Soviet soldiers buried in the country. He said the decision on where the monument should be moved to should be left up to historians.

He asked “parties that consider themselves right-wing”, such as the ruling Fidesz-Christian Democrat alliance and opposition Mi Hazánk, to support his party’s draft resolution.

“This is the chance for everyone to show from where they are or aren’t being dictated conditions and that for us Hungarian self-determination and independence is the most important argument and goal,”

Lukács said.

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Supreme court: Hungarian MEP spied for Russians

The Kúria, Hungary’s supreme court, has increased a prison sentence handed to Béla Kovács, a former politician of the opposition Jobbik party, for espionage to 5 years, news portal mandiner.hu said on Tuesday.

Kúria ruled that the former Jobbik MEP was guilty of espionage against European Union institutions, budgetary fraud and the forging of personal documents. It increased a previous suspended sentence to five years in prison and also banned him for ten years from participating in public affairs. The earliest time that he can be allowed conditional release is after completing two-thirds of his sentence.

The court laid out the justification of the ruling behind closed doors because it involved classified data.

Kovács currently lives in Moscow and was not present at the announcement.

The Constitutional Protection Office, Hungary’s internal security intelligence agency, filed a report against Kovács in April 2014 after it was revealed by the civil national security services that he had regularly met Russian diplomats and paid monthly visits to Moscow.

The European Parliament lifted his immunity in October 2015.

Charges were raised in early December of that year on suspicion that he had spied against EU institutions for Russia between 2012 and 2014.

In 2017, the EP lifted his immunity in connection with another case. Hungary’s chief prosecutor Peter Polt requested the procedure, citing information from the EU’s anti-fraud office OLAF indicating that between 2012 and 2013, Kovács hired four interns, who never turned up in Brussels or carried out any work. The EP then merged the two investigations.

In the same year, he was charged by the Hungarian prosecutor with budgetary fraud, as well as betrayal of public trust.

In September 2020, he was acquitted of espionage and given a sentence of 18 months, suspended for three years, on fraud charges. In June 2021, his sentence was increased to two years, suspended for five years.

The MEP has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

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National Election Committee decided about Jobbik’s Huxit referendum

Jobbik Huxit referendum

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The National Election Committee (NVB) on Thursday refused to approve a referendum question, submitted by the president of the opposition party Jobbik and a Non-attached member of the European Parliament (NI) Márton Gyöngyösi, aimed at prohibiting parliament from approving a decision that could lead to Hungary’s exit from the European Union.

The referendum question, submitted by Gyöngyösi as a private individual on Aug. 8, reads: “Do you agree that parliament should not be allowed to support a proposal or motion that could result in Hungary leaving the European Union?”

The election committee decided with 11 votes for and 2 votes against not to approve the initiative, explaining that based on its generic text, it was impossible to ascertain which decisions it aimed to prevent. The requirement of unambiguity was not fulfilled because the question was not sufficiently defined, it said.

It added that there was no known legislative will or proposal submitted to parliament calling for Hungary to exit the EU that could result in such a move.

Disclaimer: the sole liability for the opinions stated rests with the author(s). These opinions do not necessarily reflect the official position of the European Parliament.

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Jobbik demands measures against imported labour

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The opposition Jobbik party has demanded that the government should introduce quotas on the labour market and take measures against companies employing guest workers.

Jobbik deputy leader Dániel Z. Kárpát told a press conference on Tuesday that the number of employees in Hungary “imported from outside the European Union” was now between 80,000-90,000, while the number of Hungarians with no jobs or benefits was now in the 100,000 range. Those Hungarian jobless could be offered retraining and they could fill the positions now occupied by non-Hungarians, he suggested.

Z. Kárpát called on the government to stop giving grants to companies with over 10 percent of foreigners in their staff, as well as to impose a requirement of speaking at least basic Hungarian on “job seekers from far-away countries”.

Ruling Fidesz “systematically imports labour from the third world”, the politician said, adding that the government was “keeping wages low and employees in a vulnerable position”.

Jobbik is planning to tender a proposal “to reduce the number of foreign job seekers in Hungary to a tolerable minimum”.

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Fidesz maintains lead, but its support fell by 7 percentage

Ruling Fidesz has maintained its lead over the opposition parties over the summer. At the same time, its support fell by 7 percentage points to 47 percent, citing a poll by the Nézőpont Institute.

Support for the opposition fell to “around 32 percent, even considering uncertain voters who might support a joint opposition list,” the pro-government pollster said.

Meanwhile, fully 11 percent of voters said they were undecided concerning who they would be voting for. It seems “those leaving Fidesz have become undecided rather opposition supporters,” the institute said.

The opposition Democratic Coalition (DK), Socialist, LMP, Jobbik, Párbeszéd and Momentum parties which set up a joint list in the April parliamentary election, had 16 percent support at the end of August, down from 17 percent in July, they said. DK and Mi Hazánk were the only parties to increase their support by 1 percentage point to six percent, respectively, the pollster said.

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