A thorough and deep-plowing analysis, as always. One point is not well presented, and needs further clarification. You say the reburial of Imre Nagy and his martyr associates was only one day when the old regime set its grip on the society lose. Being young, You can not remember personally that day, and identify yourself with the interpretation published and distributed widely in the Orbán era.
The Kádár regime was over, we lived already in the transition stage. The reburial was part of it, decided by then prime minister Miklós Németh. Viktor Orbán was invited, as the head of a young new party. Orbán's brave demand regarding the Soviet army's leaving Hungary was his personal wish, resonating with every Hungarian.
When I listened to Orbán then, I felt as if he was the Elephant in the china shop. Németh already agreed with Gorbacsev, whose peresztroika was not popular in Moscow, and we could see "brotherly" tanks on the streets of Budapest, like in 1956. Fortunately it did not happen, and Orbán himself certainly believes that he was chasing out the Soviets.
Thank you so much, Zsolt, and for the warmth and care with which you read and responded.
You´re absolutely right, and I’m glad you pointed this out. The transition was already moving, and Miklós Németh’s role shouldn’t get lost in the telling. I can see how the piece leaned hard on the symbolic moment. That’s a fair and important point.
What I was really after was the emotional truth of it, the weight that day still carries. Memory coming back into the open, dignity restored, and Orbán standing there binding himself to that language. Which is exactly what makes the betrayal so hard to look away from.
And thank you for sharing your own memory of being there. That’s not something any archive gives you.
No blame on you at all! Just having been there, working as one of the advisors to Miklós, I am authorised by direct presence to testify. Maria Schmidt and others are here to falsify history, and build Orbán's statue 100 meter tall. Miklós is pruning his grape vines at Aszófō, and can lean back with relaxed feeling that he did what he had to, when history called.
Orbán was a guest speaker, certainly a good one, lean, with stamina, and without a paper to read. That Orbán is lost for years. He speaks from paper, propped up by his huge belly, written by Putin.
Right down to the attempted assassination while the rest of U.S. who have ever run a Code on a rifle shot, know the U.S. version was a made for TV version.
Donald Trump, always an enemy of democracy, and a man without ideology, is just as frightened as Orban=and Putin-perhaps more so. Yet, as they say, "A wounded bear is the most dangerous of his kind."
As Kent Cooper has commented I also know nothing about Hungary and its politics. Your article is very informative and interesting 👍.
Are we being tricked by Putin into another Soviet Block? Putin was a master spy in the old KGB and his methods of espionage are in play throughout Europe. Trump is a big buddy of Putin, indeed many believe he is an old Soviet plant in America.
We've had so many false starts re fall of fascism but I think this election will be the most watched since Lula v Bolsonaro. Orbán, from smaller country than Brasil, is more pivotal. Bolsonaro had 4 years to Orbán's 16 and trashed it far less than Orbán.
Orbán is also a poster boy, adored among our fascist right, and by the likes of LePen.
This election could not be more timely, without being held today.
Excellent article. I know little of Hungary and that's why I subscribe, albeit I can only afford the free subscription.
Anybody J.D. Vance and Trump support is no friend of mine, nor of democracy anywhere.
Thank you so much for your kind words, Kent!
Péter,
A thorough and deep-plowing analysis, as always. One point is not well presented, and needs further clarification. You say the reburial of Imre Nagy and his martyr associates was only one day when the old regime set its grip on the society lose. Being young, You can not remember personally that day, and identify yourself with the interpretation published and distributed widely in the Orbán era.
The Kádár regime was over, we lived already in the transition stage. The reburial was part of it, decided by then prime minister Miklós Németh. Viktor Orbán was invited, as the head of a young new party. Orbán's brave demand regarding the Soviet army's leaving Hungary was his personal wish, resonating with every Hungarian.
When I listened to Orbán then, I felt as if he was the Elephant in the china shop. Németh already agreed with Gorbacsev, whose peresztroika was not popular in Moscow, and we could see "brotherly" tanks on the streets of Budapest, like in 1956. Fortunately it did not happen, and Orbán himself certainly believes that he was chasing out the Soviets.
Thank you so much, Zsolt, and for the warmth and care with which you read and responded.
You´re absolutely right, and I’m glad you pointed this out. The transition was already moving, and Miklós Németh’s role shouldn’t get lost in the telling. I can see how the piece leaned hard on the symbolic moment. That’s a fair and important point.
What I was really after was the emotional truth of it, the weight that day still carries. Memory coming back into the open, dignity restored, and Orbán standing there binding himself to that language. Which is exactly what makes the betrayal so hard to look away from.
And thank you for sharing your own memory of being there. That’s not something any archive gives you.
Péter,
No blame on you at all! Just having been there, working as one of the advisors to Miklós, I am authorised by direct presence to testify. Maria Schmidt and others are here to falsify history, and build Orbán's statue 100 meter tall. Miklós is pruning his grape vines at Aszófō, and can lean back with relaxed feeling that he did what he had to, when history called.
Orbán was a guest speaker, certainly a good one, lean, with stamina, and without a paper to read. That Orbán is lost for years. He speaks from paper, propped up by his huge belly, written by Putin.
Right down to the attempted assassination while the rest of U.S. who have ever run a Code on a rifle shot, know the U.S. version was a made for TV version.
Donald Trump, always an enemy of democracy, and a man without ideology, is just as frightened as Orban=and Putin-perhaps more so. Yet, as they say, "A wounded bear is the most dangerous of his kind."
I couldn’t have said it better myself, Gary.
Really interesting read. Thank you.
As Kent Cooper has commented I also know nothing about Hungary and its politics. Your article is very informative and interesting 👍.
Are we being tricked by Putin into another Soviet Block? Putin was a master spy in the old KGB and his methods of espionage are in play throughout Europe. Trump is a big buddy of Putin, indeed many believe he is an old Soviet plant in America.
We've had so many false starts re fall of fascism but I think this election will be the most watched since Lula v Bolsonaro. Orbán, from smaller country than Brasil, is more pivotal. Bolsonaro had 4 years to Orbán's 16 and trashed it far less than Orbán.
Orbán is also a poster boy, adored among our fascist right, and by the likes of LePen.
This election could not be more timely, without being held today.