The Peacock Dance
This projects is part of my Master's degree thesis in International Relations titled "The peacock dance: Orbanism against the fundamental values of the European Union. Analysis and reportage of illiberal Hungary". The thesis is a research on the illiberal regime founded by the magyar prime minister Viktor Orbán in Hungary.
In the western countries of Europe Hungary is showed as the black sheep of the Union, but there is more than that. The prime minister has built a reign in the country and his oligarchy took control of the key roles in order to run the nation for so many years. The judiciary, for example, is no longer independent. The majority of the media are controlled by the government and even the election cannot be considered free. All of this happened without any form of violence. The government succeeded in penetrate the state and weaken the Rule of law. In my thesis I try to explain how they did it and why.
Instead, part of the thesis is a reportage made during two different period: the first journey was during the election, on April '22; the second one was on December. The story focuses on the civil opposition, the protests and who fights against the power of the prime minister Orbán.
During the days preceding the elections, there was a pro-European atmosphere in Budapest. In fact, during the months leading up to the day of the elections, the coalition seemed like it could achieve an important result, until it was understood that in reality the parties were more divided than ever within it.
The topic of the war caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine was of primary importance in those days. Orbán had to rethink his electoral campaign. After years of portraying migrants as a danger, how could he get his constituency to accept hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians crossing the border? By changing their name, from migrants - now a derogatory term used for those arriving from the Middle East and North Africa - to refugees. But when the refugees started arriving, the government stood still. It was the citizens and the NGOs, long hindered by Orbán, who helped those crossing the border.
The prime minister managed to leverage Hungarian identitarianism - as opposed to multiculturalism - and nationalism. He succeeded better than anyone else in completely detaching himself from the old politics associated with the Hungarian Kadarian period and instilling the idea that Hungary can never be subjected to the will of other states or supranational realities. From the trauma of the Nazi and Soviet occupations, Orbán has managed to give a new identity to the nation.
Viktor Orbán's illiberal government affected also the category of teachers. The demonstrations had begun for the very low salary received, less than 500 euros, among the lowest in Europe. Over time, however, the issue has widened. It's not just for the salary, teachers were also demonstrating for the few hirings. There is a lack of professors throughout Hungary. However, since September, when professors began to be fired by the government, the demonstrations have become increasingly frequent. In addition to the question of wages and the lack of teachers, students and professors started to protest in favor of the right to strike and freedom of teaching.
The economic crisis dictated by inflation is aggravating the situation. For Orbán it is the fault of Brussels' sanctions on Russia, with the shameless intent of pointing the finger at an invented enemy, despite evidence of the government's wrong action which, with the price cap on fuel and food, has further increased inflation.
