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 feldman@forward.com 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 feldman@forward.com. Follow him on Twitter @aefeldman.

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