Dossier:

Focus on Hungary

The Heinrich Böll Foundation is compiling a dossier containing articles on the situation in Hungary since the right-wing government came to power in April 2010.

The arguments and opinions presented in the dossier provide an acute, sometimes trenchant critique of the current government and its policies. We see our role in supporting the democratic voices in Hungary and raising public attention in Europe with regard to critical developments in our common political space.

We hope that this dossier will help our readers get a better grasp of the controversies surrounding the socio-political changes in Hungary, and thereby involve members of the European public in the crucial debate on democracy in a changing Europe. This debate is not limited to current developments in Hungary. We see democracy as a never-finished task. There is no guarantee against retrogression, and it’s always up to citizens to reinforce democratic structures and procedures through their engagement in the public sphere.

Ellen Ueberschär, President, Heinrich Böll Foundation
Zsófia Deák, Editor of the dossier (zsofia.deak@cz.boell.org)

Latest articles
Results at the voting districts of Hungary in 2022

Jobbik’s voters were the most likely to be missing from the opposition coalition’s camp

Flash report
Voters critical of the Orbán system are too diverse to be locked into a single camp. As it seems, it was an illusion to suggest that the majority of former Jobbik voters can vote on a list with center-left parties. The maneuvering space of the fifth Orbán government will only be limited by economic and foreign policy necessities; domestically, it has an easier job than ever before.
By Róbert László
The Hungarian flag with the background of the flags of Ukraine and Russia

Narrowing room for manoeuvre: The effects of Putin's war on Hungary

Analysis
Hungarian foreign policy has been standing on two pillars in the past decade: building multilateral ties with great economic powers in order to boost trade, foreign investment, and development, and in the meantime maintaining traditional commitments to EU and NATO allies in the security and defence realm. However, with the tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalating to a war, Hungary has had to change its long-established attitudes overnight. In such a situation, any pro-Russian stance and balancing became practically impossible.
By Tamás Csiki Varga, András Deák and Krisztián Jójárt
More
portrait of Andrea Pető

The Ailing European Academic Accreditation System Hacked by Illiberal ‘Polypore Science’ – An Interview with Hungarian Gender Studies Professor Andrea Pető

Interview
The internationally renowned Hungarian academic Andrea Pető, Professor in the Department of Gender Studies at Central European University, resigned from the Hungarian Accreditation Committee (HAC) after being pressured by the president of the Committee to withdraw a paragraph from her double peer-reviewed and published article entitled “The Illiberal Academic Authority: An Oxymoron?”.
By Andrea Pető and Anna Frenyó
budget monitoring - K monitor

There is nothing mysterious about public budgets: it's our money!

Project summary
Imagine a country where citizens and public bodies come together to solve the most important issues they face; and allocate public funds accordingly. Where the decision-making process is transparent and accountable, and where you have a real say in the policies and services that shape your life. In Hungary, the budget process, that distributes almost half of the national income, operates against these democratic principles. The latest Open Budget Survey shows that Hungary is far behind other countries of the CEE region in almost all aspects when it comes to transparency and participation related to the national budget.
By Miklós Merényi
All dossier articles
Publications

Political integration of Hungarian students, 2019

After a four-year absence, the Active Youth (Aktív Fiatalok) Research Group has
returned with a new survey about the political attitudes of higher education students
in Hungary. The significance of this year’s findings relies on the fact that the political
views of the majority of students sampled in this most recent survey – including
some born as recently as 2000 – were formed during consecutive terms of prime
minister Viktor Orbán and his government, considered by many political scientists
and commentators to be a hybrid regime.

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Building Blocks for a Renewed Human Rights Narrative

This study aims to lay the foundations of a collaboration that can be joined by other organisations still being formed, as well as by actors sharing human rights values who can reach out to additional potential supporters. This text is designed to be continuously expanded in the future, so as to further incorporate increasingly sensitive analyses along with a growing pool of creative ideas and recommendations.

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