Hungary’s Orban: Landslide gives me a strong mandate
BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Tuesday his landslide reelection has given him a powerful mandate to restrict migrant rights and seek a European Union of independent nations rather than a “United States of Europe.”
The right-wing nationalist leader, whose resounding victory on Sunday sent shock waves through opposition parties, also said he planned to revamp his government. “I will set up a new government, in a large part with new people and a new structure,” he said, without going into detail.
Orban won a third straight term in power in Sunday’s election after his anti-immigration campaign message solidified a strong majority for his party in parliament, granting him two-thirds of the seats based on preliminary results.
“We have received a strong mandate,” the 54-year-old premier told his first news conference since his election triumph, which has triggered the resignation of Gabor Vona, leader of the main opposition Jobbik party in parliament.
“The Hungarian people have defined the most important issues: These are the question of immigration and national sovereignty,” Orban said. “It is entirely clear... from the election result that Hungarians have decided that only they can decide with whom they want to live in Hungary, and the government will stick to this position.”
Fidesz signaled on Monday it could push on with legislation to crack down on organizations promoting migrant rights as soon as parliament reconvenes.
The government’s “Stop Soros” bill submitted to parliament before the election would impose a 25% tax on foreign donations to NGOs that the government says back migration in Hungary. “Stop Soros” refers to Hungarian-born US billionaire George Soros, whose funding of liberal democratic, open-border causes in Europe has made him a major adversary of Orban.
“The election in my view also... decided that the Hungarian government must stand up for a Europe of nations and not for a ‘United States of Europe,’” said Orban, an opponent of deeper integration within the European Union.
Orban added that he would cultivate deeper relations with nationalist-ruled Poland and the conservative German region of Bavaria in his new term in office because of their direct support for his reelection bid.
ALSO ON Tuesday, Hungarian nationalist Jobbik party leader Gabor Vona quit the party presidency and given up his seat in parliament following Sunday’s crushing election defeat.
Vona, who entered parliament in a far-right uniform in 2010 after the global financial crisis, bowed out of national politics clad in a sleek suit and a tie, standing alone in a corridor of parliament in a black-andwhite photo posted online.
“As Jobbik’s prime minister candidate, I took personal responsibility for the 2018 election result,” Vona said in a post on his Facebook page. “Given that the election victory did not manifest, I have kept my word.”
Vona said he would continue to work with Jobbik but not as party president. Many other opposition leaders have also resigned in the wake of the election defeat.
Unable to grow larger on a farright platform, Jobbik shifted toward the center from 2013 and effectively traded places as Orban grew closer to the far Right with his strong anti-immigration platform during Europe’s migrant crisis.
But its strategy to remake itself into a moderate force, distancing itself from the racist and xenophobic platform which defined its formative years, has failed to produce the kind of breakthrough the party had hoped for.
In addition, one of Hungary’s two national opposition dailies will shut down on Wednesday due to financial problems, its publisher said, in a sign of rapidly deteriorating prospects for media freedom after the landslide reelection of Orban.
The closure of Magyar Nemzet will be a milestone in the gradual disappearance of independent media in Hungary that Western European Union leaders and international rights groups say underlines the country’s slide into authoritarianism.
The 80-year-old daily is owned by tycoon Lajos Simicska, once an ally of the right-wing nationalist prime minister who fell out with him and became one of his staunchest opponents in the election campaign.
Simicska’s media holdings, once highly profitable, incurred heavy losses after he fell out with Orban and his publications were deprived of government advertising.
“Due to the financing problems of Magyar Nemzet, the owners have decided to cease media content production activity from April 11, 2018. Therefore Magyar Nemzet and its online version mno.hu will close,” the publisher said in on its website.
The timing of the announcement suggests the newspaper’s closure had political dimensions.
“Simicska dedicated his past year to revenge [against Orban], and his media portfolio was a conduit for that,” Policy Solutions analyst Tamas Boros said. “Now that he sees Orban with another two-thirds majority, it was no longer worth his while.
“He sees the results, anticipates government revenge, and is shutting down unprofitable media organizations.”
Magyar Nemzet publisher’s will also close Lanchid Radio, a sister radio station, at midnight on Tuesday and seek buyers for other Simicska group outlets.