On Hungary’s national holiday
Orban insults political opponents as “bugs”
15.03.2025 – 8:58 p.m.Reading time: 2 min.
Viktor Orban is increasingly unpopular in Hungary, an opposition politician competes with him. Orban reacts with the dehumanization of supposed opponents.
The Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has insulted political opponents and critics of his government as “bugs”. “After today’s ceremonial meeting, the big Easter plaster begins,” said the right -wing populist in a speech on the Hungarian national holiday on March 15 in Budapest.
“The bugs hibernated,” he said. “We liquidate the financial machinery that bought politicians, judges, journalists, pseudo-civil organizations and political activists with corrupt dollars,” added the right-wing populist. The disparagement and dehumanization of dissenters and minorities is part of the repertoire of extremely right -wing politics. It is often at the beginning of the persecution of political opponents. The Nazis often described their victims as “rats” or “parasites”.
Orban has been ruling with authoritarian methods about his country for almost 15 years. According to the EU, the freedom of the media and the rule of law are also limited, which is why it frozen part of the aid money. The Hungarian is said to have abused part of these funds in order to enrich oligarchs and his own relatives.
Orban describes himself as a “freedom fighter” against whom “Brussels” supposedly conspired. In his view, the critics and opponents in their own country are only “henchmen” of the EU bureaucracy and their alleged backers from the global financial world.
The right -wing populist has been under pressure in his own country since a serious challenger threw his hat into the ring exactly a year ago. The moderately conservative Peter Magyar, who comes from Orbans Fidesz party and was married to former Minister of Justice Judit Varga, founded his own party, which is regularly clearly ahead of the Orban party in independent polls. The next parliamentary elections will take place in spring 2026.
Orban is increasingly nervous and threatens to repression even more. The name of political opponents and critics as “bugs” represents a tightening of his key. There is no evidence that political or civil society actors and independent media professionals are “bought” from the EU or other western donors.
Several civil organizations and media receive funding from state and private institutions in the west. To apply this in transparent procedures, you can regularly account for your use. So far, this is also legal under Hungarian law.
