At a recent talk I gave about Russia, Hungarian students at Budapest’s Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) saw some parallels with their own country.
True, freedom is not as restricted here as under Vladimir Putin but Hungary too has a seemingly immovable leader and ruling party, and the often fractious opposition struggles to break through.
But if anyone can give Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz party an electoral wake up call, it is perhaps the nation’s metropolitan youth; Generation Z, a whole different generation from those who emerged from Communism into the free market in the 1990s.
And soon they will have a chance, as Hungarians go to the polls in the EU parliamentary elections on 9 June 2024. These elections will not change Hungary’s proudly “illiberal” government but they will be a test of whether voters are tiring of populism and seeing a need for more liberal democracy.
Hungary joined the European Union in 2004. Orbán, in power since 2010, has often been at odds with Brussels. Presenting himself as the defender of Hungarian sovereignty and traditional Christian family values, he has defied the European Union over media freedom, the rule of law, migration and LGBTQ rights. Despite the war in Ukraine, he has maintained links with Moscow and shown open sympathy for former U.S. President Donald Trump.
“This European election is a symbolic occasion, as it’s the first where we have Hungarian voters who were born inside the EU,” said Márton Schlanger, a researcher at the independent Republikon Institute.
Will people vote?
Turnout could be low.
“The formative political experience of Hungarian youth is that the current ruling party is unbeatable and voting is a futile effort,” he said.
One of the students in the group I was addressing said that she and her generation wants change. For her, the problem was the older generation. “Our grandparents, and people in the villages who don’t speak English, see nothing but Fidesz propaganda on television,” she said.
Hungary, a country of nearly 10 million, will send 21 members to the 720-seat European Parliament. Parties put up lists of candidates and get seats based on their share of votes.
In Europe, members of the European Parliament, known as MEPs, sit in ideological groups. Previously, Fidesz was with the centre-right group but now it sits apart. MEPs from Hungary’s 12 opposition parties will find like-minded colleagues among the socialists, liberals or greens.
Campaigning on war and peace
There is concern in the EU about Russian fake news, aimed at getting pro-Russian MEPs elected. In Hungary, the Fidesz line is that a vote for the ruling party is a vote for “peace” in Ukraine while opposition politicians who call out Putin’s aggression are “war mongers”.
Hungary is one thing but Budapest is another. The capital city is a liberal island in the more conservative sea of the country as a whole. Deputy Mayor Kata Tüttő, who tops the Socialist Party’s candidate list, told reporters her focus was on climate change, affordable housing, health and education. She added that while democracy might be slipping nationally, strong links between cities such as Budapest and Vienna helped to keep it alive.
As the election approaches, a billboard battle is raging on the streets of Budapest.
“Let’s not dance to their tune,” says one government billboard attacking Brussels. Another shows European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen sitting on a red velvet throne, while Hungarian opposition politicians dressed as waiters carry silver platters with a menu of “migration”, “gender” and “war”.
But a recent scandal, which forced Hungary’s president and justice minister to resign over an ill-judged pardon to a convicted paedophile, played into the hands of the opposition. “God, Homeland and Paedophilia”, said one opposition billboard sarcastically.
An opposition emerges
Protesters came out onto the streets and a strong political newcomer emerged who knows all about corruption because he was once close to the government. Péter Magyar, whose Tisza (Respect and Freedom) Party is fielding 12 Euro candidates, has been taking the battle against Fidesz outside Budapest to smaller towns and rural areas.
Opinion polls put Fidesz ahead with 45% of the vote and Tisza in second place with 25%. Schlanger, from Republikon Institute, said Tisza seemed to have “struck a chord” with young voters while Momentum was another “go-to choice” for young liberals. But he noted the extreme right-wing party Mi Hazánk (Our Country) also had a young voter base.
So what do young Hungarians make of all of this? Of course, it’s not a simple matter of young people supporting the opposition while the older generation backs Orbán. Sometimes older people are opposition-minded while the young support Fidesz.
“A lot of people criticise Orbán but as I see it, there isn’t any competent alternative,” said Bálint, an economics student. “If Orbán’s bad, the opposition are worse. That’s it, basically.”
Amid widespread apathy, it is likely that many young Hungarians will not vote at all. But the politics class at ELTE can hardly ignore politics.
“I’m absolutely going to vote,” said Balázs, a student of international relations. “I believe it’s my duty to go out and attempt to shape the future of my country. I will do some research into the candidates before placing my vote but I would opt for a more EU-friendly opposition candidate.”
Fanni, who hopes to be a journalist, supports the satirical Two-Tailed Dog Party.
“I see it as the best option to show we are tired of old politicians and do not want to have to choose between Gyurcsány [Ferenc, a socialist politician from earlier times] and Orbán,” she said. “That’s too much like the choice between Biden and Trump.”
And even though the European elections will not change the domestic situation, Fanni sees meaning in sending opposition politicians to Europe. “It’s important to show how different Hungarians are; that we don’t all automatically agree with Orbán,” she said.
Source link : https://news-decoder.com/wh-y-vote-generation-z-could-turn-hungarys-eu-vote/
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Publish date : 2024-06-04 10:04:12
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