The Orbán System

"The National Assembly declares," as it reads in a 2010 Fidesz manifesto, "that … a new social contract has been written with which the Hungarians have decided in favor of a new system, the system of national cooperation." Since then, a cultural struggle has been taking place on all levels of society and politics between a state that Orbán has molded to become increasingly inconsiderate and authoritarian on the one side and an increasingly weak liberal opposition on the other. The power relations are so unequal, the disenfranchisement of domestic political opponents so perfidious and effective, that people barely dare to hope for a return to the rule of law and liberal democracy. György Dalos, a true expert in Hungarian history, describes how Orbán and his kindred spirits have brought Hungary under their control and entrenched their system.