Autocratic Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán recently made his most brazen embrace of explicit ethno-nationalism and the racist “Great Reparations” theory. Orbán’s use of overtly racist rhetoric makes his deepening relationship with far-right figures in the US all the more disturbing, most visibly in his attendance at this week’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) 2022 meeting in Texas.
In April, Orbán won a decisive re-election victory to secure a fourth consecutive term, likely to extend his term in office until at least 2026. Since taking power in 2010, Orbán has pushed through constitutional changes to consolidate political control, undermined the independent judiciary and exercised repressive influence over the press and civil society in the service of an anti-immigrant, ethno-nationalist populism. Today, Freedom House rates Hungary as “partly free,” and already in 2014, Orbán proudly proclaimed his intention to “build an illiberal new state based on national values.”
In the latest chapter, Orbán dropped any pretense about his white, Christian ethno-nationalism. During a speech to a summer camp on July 23, he announced that in his Hungary, “we do not want to become people of mixed race.” Orbán’s speech wove a tapestry of fake pseudo-history to present Hungary – and Europe – as somehow ethnically cohesive, distinct and inviolable, obviously ignoring Hungary’s and Europe’s extensive history of migration. Orbán’s screed was intended to stoke fears that migration and demographic shifts would cause non-Europeans to somehow displace his perception of traditional Hungarian and European culture. Recalling the Siege of Vienna and the Battle of Poitiers, he argued that Hungary must again “defend” itself against Muslims and resist “Islamic civilization” while preparing to welcome Christians who would have to to escape this clash of civilizations in the coming decades.
Orbán, pausing at one point to make a joke about Nazi gas chambers, raged at the European Union, George Soros and the “internationalist left” — favorite villains he believes have led a conspiracy to “force migrants on U.S.” The address was a near-textbook overview of the theory of the “great reparation”: the same ideology that has motivated a number of white supremacist terrorist attacks in recent years. Orbán’s ethno-nationalism and thinly veiled anti-Semitism draw on political traditions – and a “gentlemen’s” definition of the nation – that go back to the bloodiest chapters of the 20th century. The speech was sufficiently inflammatory to prompt the resignation of Orbán’s longtime adviser Zsuzsa Hegedüs, who called the speech “a pure Nazi text worthy of Goebbels.”
Yet Orbán remains a darling of the American extreme right, which seems undeterred by the Hungarian’s increasingly explicit embrace of the racist “Great Reparations” theory. Perhaps this is not surprising, as this theory is also embraced by some on the American right as an extension of the staunchly anti-immigrant platform they also share with the Hungarian prime minister. Indeed, Orbán and the American right have deepened their cooperation towards these illiberal goals. In May, Orbán delivered the keynote address at a CPAC meeting in Hungary, amid a line-up of right-wing American figures—including Matt Schlapp, Rick Santorum, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD), Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) and Tucker Carlson — who took the opportunity to broadcast his primetime show for a week from Budapest. The conference also featured far-right representatives from around the world, including Nigel Farage and Eduardo Bolsonaro, representing a kind of annual meeting of the burgeoning authoritarian right-wing international.
Orbán is again scheduled to address his many right-wing American fans at CPAC in Dallas tomorrow, along with former President Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R ) and scores of conservative leaders. Beyond rhetorical and ideological alignment, Orbán’s relationship with the American far-right has taken on explicit political terms—with Trump endorsing Orbán ahead of his 2022 re-election—providing the Hungarian strongman’s endorsement during Trump’s failed 2020 re-election bid.
At times, this coordination has included efforts that directly undermine US foreign policy and national interests. Most recently, Orbán has received direct strategic advice from Republican lawmakers on how to undermine US and allied diplomatic efforts to secure an agreement – joined by more than 130 countries – to require large multinational corporations to pay a minimum tax in those countries , where they operate. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto reported: “We are constantly consulting with the Republicans. There is a constant professional consultation on this issue.” Hungary’s efforts to sabotage the deal prompted the US Treasury Department to terminate the US tax treaty with Hungary.
More broadly, Orbán remains Vladimir Putin’s best friend in Europe, embracing Russia’s rhetoric about the causes of the war in Ukraine and blaming the US and NATO for not bowing to Russia’s demands that Ukraine surrender its sovereignty. Before the invasion, Orbán stubbornly resisted EU efforts to reduce dependence on Russian energy, paying a cozy visit to Moscow just three weeks before Putin ordered his renewed assault on Ukraine to praise the long and cooperative relationship between the two strongmen. Since the outbreak of renewed hostilities, the Hungarian leader has thwarted efforts to further sanction Russia for its horrific invasion and blocked moves to wean Europe off Russian energy sources.
Orbán shares this affinity with Putin with right-wing US leaders – including former President Trump, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Tucker Carlson and congressional representatives like Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-GA) and Madison Cawthorne (R-NC) — who have repeatedly praised Putin and often repeated Russian talking points in an attempt to score points in the domestic culture war rather than address the reality of Russia’s geopolitical threat or its brutal invasion of Ukraine.
Orbán has undermined democracy in Hungary; sabotaged US and European efforts to respond to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; and used racist rhetoric laden with white supremacist and fascist undertones. While the United States must deal with the Hungarian state as a NATO member, the rejection of this extreme, anti-democratic rhetoric should unite Americans of all political stripes. No organization should give Orbán a platform in the United States to legitimize his worldview.
