Anti-Soros Campaign Gives Viktor Orban’s Party A Supermajority In Hungary

Viktor Orban Image by Getty

By Ari Feldman April 9, 2018

Viktor Orban, leader of Hungary’s far-right Fidesz party was reelected prime minster after his party won a supermajority in Hungary’s parliament, the Washington Post reported.

The vote was widely seen as a referendum on the status of democracy in Europe, especially with Orban already having been in power for two terms. Now, with two-thirds of the sits in Hungary’s parliament held by his party, he can effectively rewrite the country’s constitution how he likes.

“There is a big battle behind us,” he said, speaking at the Fidesz campaign headquarters. “We have won. Today Hungary had a decisive victory. We have the chance to defend Hungary.”

Orban is vehemently opposed to immigrants and frequently made George Soros, the Hungarian Jewish billionaire and philanthropist, a bogeyman for foreign influence in Hungary. Soros’ face has appeared in campaign ads and the organizations he funds have been targeted with a so-called “Stop Soros” bill.

Orban has also frequently invoked classic anti-Semitic stereotypes when decrying Soros’ influence.

“We are fighting an enemy that is different from us,” he said in March in Budapest. “Not open but hiding; not straightforward but crafty; not honest but base; does not believe in working but speculates with money; does not have its own homeland but feels it owns the whole world.”

Contact Ari Feldman at [email protected] or on Twitter @aefeldman

Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. He covers Jewish religious organizations, synagogue life, anti-Semitism and the Orthodox world. If you have any tips, you can email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @aefeldman.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO