Hungary's 'Orbanization' Is Worrying Europe

Thomas777 Saturday 11 Feb 2017

Yes - and more generally, Hungarian patriots don't require the input/grandstanding of some rich-kid American who is aiming to fashion a William F. Buckley-style career for himself under a purported ''Alternative Right'' branding.

I don't know Spencer personally and I've never corresponded with him - but I've read a lot of his work product and at a distance he reminds me David Duke; a man of average or mediocre abilities whose primary interest is in his own public image and the cultivation of fame therein. Men like this are toxic - and even where their presence is benign, they're essentially useless to any political project.

The fact that he'd covet Hungary as a venue in which to promote himself speaks to his basic ignorance and tone-deafness - probably the least receptive country to any kind of ''ecumenical'' politics would be Hungary, a place that is both notorious and respected/renowned for the strength it derives from its (unusual) insularity. Even a casual observer with no expertise on the country or the culture (such as myself) discerns that this is one reason why the Magyars are an unusual population within Europe - and this was the wellspring of their national resistance to Communism during the Cold War. Hungary is the absolute last place that an American political activist (regardless of ideological stripe) would be welcomed.

Sconvolto Tuesday 11 Apr 2017

Niccolo and Donkey Tuesday 25 Apr 2017

I don’t recognise Viktor Orbán as a ‘tyrant’

Niccolo and Donkey Thursday 4 May 2017

Link to thread:

The Washington Post hints at need for regime change in Hungary

Amadis Friday 5 May 2017

I read this recently - a good article which dispels the hysteria.

Tibor Fischer previously wrote an excellent comic novel - Under the Frog - about playing basketball in Communist Hungary. He also used to hit on my aunt all the time when they worked at the same place many years ago (apparently his hair was thinning even then).

Niccolo and Donkey Sunday 7 May 2017

The Fight in Hungary Is Over George Soros's Legacy

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Builder of ivory towers.

Photographer: Olivier Hoslet/AFP/Getty Images

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has long avoided effective censure by the European Union, even though he has long since stopped adhering to the bloc's common values, denouncing liberalism and adopting an authoritarian style of government. But his attempt to close down the Central European University in Budapest, funded by George Soros, seems to be the last straw; the EU intends to sue Hungary over it, and sanctions may follow unless Orban leaves the CEU alone.

It's remarkable that the controversy over the Soros project is what has brought European unhappiness with Orban to a boil. But then, the stakes are especially high for the octogenarian philanthropist: This may be his final stand in a region where he has accomplished so much -- and yet seen at least as much failure.

In the final paragraph of her 2015 book, "Buying a Better World: George Soros and Billionaire Philanthropy," Anna Porter wrote:

It would be ironic if the Soros legacy -- as viewed through the lens of the next century -- is the Central European University in Budapest. Ironic, because the one thing that Soros never wanted was an edifice, a building to house his ideas. But it is also fitting because CEU may yet turn out to be the incubator of future leaders and, with a bit of luck, they will lead to a better world.

That's not a generous summary of Soros's legacy. And yet, after spending more than $13 billion over 33 years, Soros's Open Society Foundations and their predecessor organizations haven't been able to foster open, non-authoritarian societies in many of the countries where much of that money was spent. Russia, one of the biggest arenas for Soros philanthropy (and a country to which he once casually lent $700 million from his private account to cover a pension shortfall), kicked out all the Soros organizations in 2015, declaring them a threat to state security. In Macedonia, one of the former Yugoslav countries that have been a focus of Soros activities, Nikola Gruevski, the former prime minister who heads the ruling national party, accuses him of destabilizing the country with his "ideological" investments. In Poland, another eastern European country where nationalists have won power, a big recipient of Soros funding is under threat .

In Hungary, Soros's country of origin, his contributions were initially welcomed, including by student activist Viktor Orban, who went to Oxford on a Soros-funded scholarship. But lately, Orban has lost patience with the philanthropist. In a speech to the European Parliament this week, he said,

We have a dispute partly with you and partly with an American financial speculator. I know that the power, size and weight of Hungary is much smaller than that of the financial speculator, George Soros, who is now attacking Hungary and who – despite ruining the lives of millions of European people with his financial speculations, and being penalized in Hungary for speculations, and who is an openly admitted enemy of the euro – is so highly praised that he is received by the EU’s top leaders.

Soros's wealth and the alleged generosity of his political investments is a leitmotif for his many critics. That argument is spurious, however. In 2015, the year his organization was forced to leave Russia, his total expenditure in the former Soviet Union (excluding the Baltic states) reached $58.2 million, less than 10 percent of it in Russia itself. The Open Society Foundations' budget for all of Europe in 2017 is $78.1 million. The Russian government is spending more than $320 million on a single foreign-language propaganda channel, RT.

The Central European University spent $59.7 million euros ($65.2 million) in the 2015-2016 academic year -- some 9 percent of the Hungarian government's higher education budget . If a dollar spent by Soros and Orban buys an equal share of voice, the prime minister has nothing to worry about.

The paradox of Soros's money is that it achieves both too much and too little per dollar spent.

In the 1990s, when Soros's attempted post-Communist clean-up job was just starting, the organization was often ad hoc and not particularly accountable. In every country where he wanted to operate, Soros found people who agreed with his view of an ideal country: Democratic, with an active civil society, open to the rest of the world, free of nationalist hang-ups. He gave them money and lots of operational freedom. They found -- or, in fact, already knew -- more like-minded people. The Soros-funded charities turned into clubs and support networks for a certain kind of pro-Western intellectual -- people who, during post-Communist transitions, turned into eastern European "flexians," flitting between academia, think tanks and government to shape modernization policies.

These people were smart and vocal, and they attracted more attention than warranted by their numbers or the funding they received. Paul Stubbs of the Institute of Economics in Zagreb, Croatia, wrote in a 2013 paper on the role of the Soros foundations in former Yugoslavia:

It is impossible to know what a post-Yugoslav space without the Open Society Foundations in the 1990s would have been like. There would certainly have been support for new NGOs and the supposed building of civil societies and there was massive humanitarian assistance often far exceeding the sums Soros provided. At the same time, alternative media and culture would probably have struggled to secure levels of funding coming close to that which they received from the Foundations.

But funding the westernizing intellectual elites had its downside. As Stubbs pointed out, "in its claims to intellectual superiority, cosmopolitan sentiment and profound anti-nationalism" this circle "may have served to both define the contours of political opposition and reduce their broader social impact and resonance." The Soros money insulated the modernizers from the need to seek local funding. The emergence of an international community for such people -- a lecture circuit, a system of grants, schools such as the Central European University -- created a pleasant alternative to local struggles. In part because of this, little public support emerged for the intellectuals' ideas. Soros wanted to build open societies, but instead -- at least in eastern Europe -- he succeeded in building a system of ivory towers.

It is a tribute to the power of ideas that eastern Europe's authoritarians fear Soros far more than can be justified by his spending on causes hostile to them. It's a testament to the weakness of ideas alone that the backlash against Soros's understanding of a good society is stronger than his charity's institutional effect. Soros's ideas won't win out if the EU forces Orban to leave the CEU alone; they would only win if Hungarians voted Orban out for a pro-EU liberal. But, as Porter pointed out, if the university endures and its alumni integrate into political life, things may gradually change in that direction.

What Bershidsky doesn't mention here in his downplaying of Soros's Open Society's effects is its working hand-in-glove with the US State Department which uses this organizations and media outlets to pressure said governments to adopt State Department policies.

Niccolo and Donkey Sunday 7 May 2017

Laszlo Palkovics: Michael Ignatieff is waging a media war against my government to suit his own ambitions

Michael Ignatieff is hijacking academic freedom in Hungary.

As minister of state for education in Hungary, I am calling out Ignatieff for misrepresenting his position as dean of the Central European University (CEU). I believe he is spreading mistruths about our country’s new education legislation, which in reality is designed to benefit national and foreign students at CEU. Yet Ignatieff appears hell-bent on placing CEU in the middle of a political battle, but for what gain?

I am responsible for Hungary’s educational values and integrity; therefore, it is incumbent on me to dispel Ignatieff’s myths and set the record straight once and for all.

During a recent review of 28 foreign institutions of higher education operating in Hungary, the state’s Education Office found irregularities and unlawful operations at 27 of them — including the CEU. The irregularities and unlawful practices showed that the laws as they then stood were not enough to protect Hungary’s higher-education market against universities that are not properly qualified.

I am responsible for Hungary’s educational values and integrity. Therefore, it is incumbent on me to dispel Ignatieff’s myths and set the record straight once and for all.

Some background now on CEU’s connection to the U.S.

The CEU is a New York-based entity founded by New Yorker George Soros, a Hungarian-American. The CEU is registered at the headquarters of the Open Society Foundations in Midtown Manhattan and gives out American diplomas to students of the Budapest-based Közép-európai Egyetem.

Közép-európai Egyetem, or KEE, is a literal translation to Hungarian of “Central European University,” but the KEE and the CEU are legally separate entities. CEU in New York, KEE’s offshore partner, is accredited in the state of New York, but it does not offer any degree programs in the United States.

Hungary’s new law creates certain requirements for foreign institutions of higher education, like the CEU, that award diplomas in Hungary. First, institutions must have teaching experience and a presence in their country of origin; that is, in the country recognizing the diplomas that they award. In CEU’s case, that means the United States. Second, there must be a bilateral agreement between an institution’s country of origin and Hungary that allows the institute to operate and award diplomas in Hungary.

The amendment to the education law does nothing more than set up legal guarantees so that universities are not able to exploit the current loopholes.

The amendment to the education law does nothing more than set up legal guarantees so that universities are not able to exploit the current loopholes. In other words, it aims to ensure that foreign universities seeking to offer programs in Hungary are serious institutions of higher education.

None of these conditions are impossible to meet, and none of these conditions mean shutting down any institutions. In any event, nothing prevents KEE, which is registered in Hungary and is where the real work and education is done, from continuing its operations. As Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán put it, this is of interest “in the goodwill” of both the U.S. and the Hungarian administrations. After all, higher education and the maintenance of quality in these institutions are common goals.

Our government has been explicit that it is not our intention to close CEU or any other universities. We have appointed a chief negotiator to handle discussions with the home countries of all institutions of higher education affected by the new rules. If we are met with goodwill on the side of the CEU, there’s no reason that the additional requirements cannot be met.
As CEU’s rector, Ignatieff has chosen to inflate what is essentially an administrative question into a pitched political battle. He began by announcing that he would refuse to negotiate and instead escalated this into some kind of media war. That has prompted more than a few of us to wonder in Hungary about the rector’s real ambitions.

For the record, the Hungarian government is committed to keeping the issues of higher education separate from politics, and sincerely hope that the CEU leadership will put politics aside and work with us in good faith for the future of our students.

National Post

Laszlo Palkovics is Hungary’s Minister of State for Education

Niccolo and Donkey Saturday 17 Jun 2017

Hungary passes tough anti-foreign NGO law

Budapest (AFP) - Hungary's parliament approved Tuesday a crackdown on foreign-backed civil society groups despite an international outcry, in a move seen as targeting US billionaire George Soros.

A new law, passed by 130 votes to 44, will force groups receiving more than 24,000 euros ($26,000) annually in overseas funding to register as a "foreign-supported organisation", or risk closure for non-compliance.

They will also have to use the label "foreign-supported organisation" on their websites, press releases and other publications.

The government of populist premier Viktor Orban says the measures are aimed at improving transparency as well as fighting money laundering and terrorism funding.

But the European Commission and the United Nations have condemned the law, with experts saying it could "discriminate against and delegitimise" non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

Two prominent NGOs said they would boycott the law and take the matter to the constitutional court and the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

"One of the fundamental pillars of a strong democracy is a strong independent civil society," said Marta Pardavi of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC), a local refugee rights group.

The Hungarian Civil Liberties Union also said it would "not comply with the requirements of an unlawful law".

Amnesty International meanwhile called the measures "a vicious and calculated assault" on civil groups critical of Orban's hardline policies.

The organisation said the move resembled legislation introduced in Russia in 2012 requiring foreign NGOs to register as "foreign agents".

The Hungarian law marks a hardening of frontlines in Orban's battle with foreign-funded NGOs, in particular those receiving support from Hungarian-born emigre Soros.

Government-backed billboard and media campaigns have targeted the philanthropist, while a questionnaire sent to households nationwide urged support for the registration of foreign-funded NGOs.

In January, a senior official from Orban's ruling Fidesz party said the "Soros empire's fake-civil groups" should be "swept out" of Hungary for attacking the government's anti-immigration line.

Earlier this month the EU's rights watchdog Venice Commission said the NGO bill was "excessive" despite pursuing "legitimate aims", and urged the government to consult local civil society groups.

It also accused "some state authorities" of staging a "virulent" campaign against NGOs.

Budapest said it took the Venice Commission concerns into account when amending the proposal last week, for example dropping a requirement for the details of all foreign donors to be named on a group's publications.

But the HHC dismissed the amendments as "cosmetic changes".

"NGOs can still be closed down if they fail to comply with the new rules," Pardavi told AFP.

"No consultations took place before the vote, while the general intent to stigmatise also remained," she said.

Tuesday's vote follows the hasty approval of another law in April that threatens to shut the Soros-founded Central European University in Budapest.

The crackdown on the CEU and NGOs sparked large protests in April in the Hungarian capital.

Niccolo and Donkey Monday 10 Jul 2017

Hungary’s government puts laughing Soros on billboards

Just days after Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán accused George Soros of building a “Brussels kingdom,” the government has put up billboards and posters showing the Hungarian-born financier and philanthropist with the caption saying: “Letʼs not let Soros have the last laugh!”

The main caption reads: “Letʼs not let Soros have the last laugh!” The smaller text at the top says: "National Consultation 2017: 99% reject illegal immigration." (Photo: LaMography)
The catchphrase was first uttered by Orbán last Tuesday in his speech at an event closing the government’s “national consultation” dubbed “Let’s stop Brussels!” Among other things, Orbán said Hungary wants to see “the original European Union” of the founding fathers, rather than a “Brussels kingdom,” which he implied Soros was building.

Orbán also suggested in his speech that Soros is directly involved in the European Commissionʼs ongoing infringement procedure against Hungary for its refusal to participate in the EU-wide relocation of refugees, which the prime minister said was launched “under his orders.”

“We are on the side of the Hungarian people, and the Hungarian people support the government against Brussels and Soros,” Orbán said, according to government website kormany.hu, adding that “we shall not let Soros have the last laugh.”

Questionnaires in the governmentʼs national consultation were returned by more than 1.6 million Hungarians, of the almost 8 million people eligible to vote (i.e. roughly 20% of the electorate). According to government communication, 99% of those who sent the questionnaires back supported the views of the government. However, according to a representative survey carried out in May , the vast majority of those returning the questionnaires were supporters of the governing Fidesz-KDNP coalition, which would seem to make the latest posterʼs implication of 99% support among the general populace for the governmentʼs stance on immigration highly tenuous at best.

Before the billboards appeared, Csaba Dömötör, state secretary at the Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister, the ministry headed by Antal Rogán, told government-friendly daily newspaper Magyar Idők that another campaign would be launched concerning the topics of the national consultation.

The Hungarian government has recently directed repeated and heavy criticism at Soros, accusing him of meddling against Hungary.

During his university years, Orbán himself received a scholarship from the Soros Foundation and spent four months studying at Pembroke College at the University of Oxford in 1989, according to his CV posted on the Hungarian Parliament’s official website . Orbán finished his studies in England and came back to Hungary for the parliamentary elections in 1990.

Last May, in order to demonstrate his political distance from Soros, Orbán was said to be ready to repay the scholarship he received from Sorosʼs foundation in 1989 , Cabinet Chief János Lázár noted at the time.

Småland Monday 10 Jul 2017

lmao do they really think Hungarians wont see trough this shit?

Hungary's 'Orbanization' Is Worrying Europe

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