How Viktor Orbán Built the “New Hungarian” Identity

Myth-building, revisionist histories, placing blame on fictional enemies and allies, these are just some of the tools Viktor Orbán has used to create an “acceptable” citizen in Hungary today. The threads of the Hungarian party’s influence and control in society are so strong and absolute that the prospect of untangling them could lead to a crisis of “faith” and should be a warning for democratic voices across Central Europe.

Vladimir Putin explains his aggression against Ukraine as a cultural war against “Nazism”, claiming that Ukrainians – as a nation – do not actually exist. Donald Trump is offering his US voters an “America First” proposition, primarily using cultural arguments linked to American identity. Demonstrators in Wenceslas Square on 3 and 28 September spoke of wanting a government that would defend “real Czech interests”, whatever that meant.

Making oneself a victim of one’s surroundings and gaining political power through cultural arguments that exploit the “mythical past” and cultural differences has become one of the primary methods of authoritarian or authoritarian-oriented politicians. The key to understanding many populists is identity politics, something many democrats have been slow to realise and unable to respond to. An example of this lack of understanding is the European Union’s relationship with Hungary, where identity politics has become the basis of the power of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has been in power since 2010.

“New” Paradoxes

The creation of a new vision of the Hungarian state rests on three pillars: absolute rule, unrestricted control of information and the loyalty of citizens to those who rule. But to this basic framework, Orbán and his Fidesz party still need a “new Hungarian”, a citizen who, after all the political turmoil of the last decades and the impact of globalisation, is able to find an identity that will simplify his life by explaining the joyless situation he finds himself in and finding a leader who will lead him out of this trap. Just how Orbán and his Fidesz party created such a new identity is the subject of a new book by Polish analyst Dominik Héjj, “Hungary Reimagined. How Viktor Orbán programmed a national identity”.