Unfortunate historic comparison

Balázs Orbán caused confusion and uproar with these words: ‘Precisely because of 1956, we would probably have behaved differently to President Zelensky two and a half years ago.’

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán described it as a ‘mistake’ that his political director, (namesake) Balázs Orbán, was unclear in an interview about how Hungary should have behaved towards Russia in 1956 (and today). On Kossuth Radio, which accompanied the Prime Minister to Ohrid for the joint government meeting with North Macedonia, Viktor Orbán made it clear: ‘Hungary will defend itself at all times, as it has always done and will continue to do in the future, and as the Hungarian constitution makes it mandatory for every single Hungarian!’

Until the presidential elections in the USA in November, the exchange of blows between the pro-war and pro-peace camps in Hungary and around the world will continue to intensify. This explains why the left-liberals are trying to bring the issue of the 1956 revolution and the struggle for freedom into this debate. His political director had made a mistake by not finding precise words on these sensitive issues.

‘We, who as a political community stand on the ground of 1956, must not allow any doubts about our position. Without the heroes of 1956, we would not exist,’ said the Prime Minister, who does not want the memory of the 1956 freedom fighters to be overshadowed by the Ukrainian-Russian war.

But what did Balázs Orbán say?

The prime minister’s political director said in a podcast with the conservative weekly Mandiner about the war in Ukraine that it should not have started in the first place or should have ended as quickly as possible through diplomatic channels. According to Balázs Orbán, Hungary’s position is clear and unambiguous: it sees no point in the Ukrainian-Russian war that has been raging for more than two and a half years, in which several hundred thousand people have died, while Ukraine has lost several 100,000 square kilometres of territory and the country has been destroyed. ‘What was it all for?’ – he asked in the podcast and immediately gave the answer: ‘For nothing.’

The interview focussed on criticism from the USA (and its ambassador David Pressman) of Hungary’s peace stance in the Ukraine war, which could not be understood in the context of 1956. Explaining this position, Balázs Orbán said: ‘Precisely because of 1956, we would probably have behaved differently than President Volodymyr Zelensky behaved two and a half years ago. That was irresponsible, because he pushed his country into a war in defence of his country, with so many deaths and territorial losses… We would probably have advised him to be more careful with human lives because of our experience from 1956.’

Broadsides from the opposition

These sentences caused a storm of indignation, with practically all opposition parties taking a stand. The general interpretation was that Hungary would not defend itself against Russian aggression or would not have done so in Ukraine’s place. The Socialists immediately labelled Balázs Orbán a ‘traitor to the country’ and called for his resignation, which the Green LMP also suggested in more cautious terms. The MSZP wanted to know why, if Fidesz is handing the country over to the ‘Putin army’ without a fight, heavy sums in the billions have to be spent on modernising the army. LMP leader Péter Ungár provocatively asked how many cities and counties were to be offered to the Russians?

The liberal Momentum turned to the Minister of Defence to explain whether the country’s armed forces would be prepared to defend Hungary against a Russian attack. Party leader Márton Tompos sees the memory of all Hungarian freedom fighters, whether those of 1848 or those of 1956, as humiliated, and on top of that, the political director recognises the advances of Russian aggression as a ‘result’.

The right-wing Mi Hazánk accused the political director of ‘confused’ speech. Party leader László Toroczkai wrote in an official statement: ‘The very heroes of 1956 taught us to defend Hungary’s independence against any external attack! It is another matter that our sovereignty is not threatened by Russia today, but by the USA and Brussels.’

For Péter Magyar from the Tisza party, Balázs Orbán has crossed all boundaries with his outrageous statements. The Prime Minister’s political director had trampled on the foundations of Hungarian constitutionality and independence – he should disappear from public life before the revolutionary holiday of 23 October.

Former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány showed himself to be an analyst who immediately interpreted the Fidesz politician’s statements to mean that the Orbán government wanted to hand Hungary over to the Russians without any resistance. ‘This means that the Orbán government considers Hungary to be a satellite state of Russia, both mentally and now also physically. This government has sold out Hungary, betrayed it.’ All patriots now not only have the opportunity, they have the damned duty to send this policy to hell.

Observers see a capital own goal

Several political analysts defended Balázs Orbán, who had simply chosen the wrong words. No one could seriously believe that Hungary would surrender to the Russians without a fight and even propagate this. Now, however, the political director is defending himself in vain by pointing out that his core sentence was about the fact that this war (in Ukraine) should not have broken out in 2022 in the first place. And that the Ukrainians would have been much better off with a diplomatic solution, which seemed feasible right from the start.

Meanwhile, political scientist Gábor Török spoke of a capital mistake and an own goal. ‘Professional politicians rarely make such blatant mistakes.’ Török recalled the lead candidate of the broad opposition alliance, who declared during the election campaign for the 2022 parliamentary elections that if NATO called, Hungary would send its soldiers to war to support Ukraine. Even if one can find arguments for not engaging with incomparably stronger rivals, Balázs Orbán’s current statement is a political absurdity. This is even more true for the political camp that derives its identity from national sovereignty and the Hungarians’ struggles for freedom.

The original text appeared in the German-language Budapester Zeitung. Parts of this text was created with automated translation.