The Movement for a Better Hungary ( hu, Jobbik Magyarországért Mozgalom), commonly known as Jobbik (), is a
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
in
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
.
Originating with
radical and
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...
roots,
at its beginnings, the party described itself as "a principled, conservative and
radically patriotic Christian party", whose "fundamental purpose" is the protection of "Hungarian values and interests."
In 2014, the party was described as an "
anti-Semitic organization" by ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'' and a "neo-Nazi party" by the president of the
European Jewish Congress
The European Jewish Congress, (EJC), was founded in 1986. It is based in Brussels, with offices in Paris, Strasbourg, Berlin and Budapest. It is a representative body of democratically elected European Jewish communities throughout Europe.
Overv ...
.
From 2015 to 2020, the party started to re-define itself as a more moderate conservative people's party and changed the controversial elements of its communication, culminating with its new declaration of principles now defining itself as a centre-right, pro-European party with some residual moderated nationalist tendencies (the position previously occupied by
Fidesz
Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance (; hu, Fidesz – Magyar Polgári Szövetség) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Hungary, led by Viktor Orbán.
It was formed in 1988 under the name of Alliance of Young ...
). According to the party's "Declaration of Principles", Jobbik will "always focus on the interests of Hungary and the Hungarian people instead of a political group or an ideology. On the other hand,
obbikreject
hatemongering and extreme political views that are contrary to Christian values and ethics."
After the
Hungarian parliamentary elections on 8 April 2018, the party polled 1,092,806 votes, securing 19.06% of the total, making it Hungary's second-largest party in the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...
.
Name
The Movement for a Better Hungary more commonly goes under its abbreviated name Jobbik, which is in fact a play on words. The word ''jobb'' in Hungarian has two meanings, the adjective for "better" and the direction "right". Consequently, the
comparative form ''Jobbik'' means both "better choice" and "more to the right". This is somewhat similar to the English phrase "right choice", which could mean both "a choice on the right side of the political spectrum" and "a correct choice". In fact, origally it was a pun, JOBBIK is the short form for ''JOBBoldali Ifjúsági Közösség'' (
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
: ''Right-wing Youth Community'').
Platform and ideology
On 30 June 2020,
Péter Jakab
Péter Jakab (born 16 August 1980) is a Hungarian politician and member of the National Assembly. He served as president of the right-wing Jobbik between January 2020 and June 2022. He had been the parliamentary group leader of Jobbik from July ...
the president of Jobbik and
Koloman Brenner member of the strategic group of the party introduced a new declaration of principles of the party, replacing its previous hardline nationalist-populist, Eurosceptic, anti-globalist, and irredentist one. The party redefined itself as a
Christian,
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
,
centre-right
Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and ...
, socially sensitive people's party in the document. The document defines Jobbik as the only people's party in
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
, and stated that "Jobbik is an independent political movement that strictly observes its own values but is willing to cooperate with other political forces to restore democracy and the rule of law in Hungary." Since its adoption of more moderate policies, Jobbik has been described as
centrist
Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to Left-w ...
, centre-right and
right-wing. It also stated its support for
agrarianism.
Currently, the party describes itself as a modern conservative people's party.
A 28 February 2020 opinion poll by IDEA for Euronews was analyzed by leading political scientist Balázs Böcskei. He interpreted that from a former nationalist party, Jobbik has completed its transformation into a moderate people's party and its voting base has been changed, and now competes for a predominantly moderate conservative pro-EU constituency.
Since 2014, the party has not used the "radical right-wing" term to define itself, stating that it aims to represent all Hungarian people, not exclusively the right-wing of the political spectrum. According to Gábor Vona, the president of Jobbik, after 2014 the party has grown out of its "
adolescence" and reached its
adulthood
An adult is a human or other animal that has reached full growth. In human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and legal concepts. In contrast to a " minor", a legal adult is a person who has attained the age of majo ...
. The party has significantly changed its views on the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
, while in internal politics the party has started to emphasize opening towards the different groups of the
Hungarian society.
At the same time, Vona distanced the party from "wrong statements" that it had made in the past.
Historical
Prior to 2020, Jobbik was described by media and academics as
right-wing and
far-right. Earlier, the party often defined itself as "a principled, conservative and radically patriotic Christian party", whose "fundamental purpose" was the protection of "Hungarian values and interests".
Since then, Jobbik has implemented major changes in its program and policies, due to its growing popularity and broadening supporter groups. Earlier Jobbik's ideology has been described by political scholars as
right-wing populist
Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right-wing nationalism, is a political ideology that combines right-wing politics and populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti- elitist sentiments, opposition to the Establ ...
, whose strategy "relies on a combination of
ethno-nationalism
Ethnic nationalism, also known as ethnonationalism, is a form of nationalism wherein the nation and nationality are defined in terms of ethnicity, with emphasis on an ethnocentric (and in some cases an ethnocratic) approach to various polit ...
with
anti-elitist populist rhetoric and a radical critique of existing political institutions". For its part, Jobbik rejected the common classification of the political spectrum in
left and right, and has been described as a
catch-all party. The party sees itself as patriotic. The party has always rejected the term 'far-right', and instead labeled itself as '
radical right-wing'. It has also criticised media companies for labelling them as 'far-right' and has threatened to take action towards those who do. In 2014, the
Supreme Court of Hungary
The Curia of Hungary ( Hungarian:'' Kúria''), also known as the Supreme Court of Hungary (''Magyarország Legfelsőbb Bíróság''a) before 2011 is the Supreme Court and highest judicial authority of Hungary. The Curia was founded in 1949 as the ...
ruled that Jobbik cannot be labeled "far-right" in any domestic radio or television transmissions, as this would constitute an opinion because Jobbik has refused the 'far-right' label. It also supported
socially conservative
Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institution ...
and
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...
positions.
At its beginnings, Jobbik described itself as rejecting "global
capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...
" and the European Union, because they felt disappointed with the conditions of the Hungarian EU accession. While the party previously also opposed
Zionism
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...
, the party's leader, Gábor Vona, stated in February 2017 that he has "never questioned
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
's existence" and that the party supports a
two-state solution
The two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict envisions an independent State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel, west of the Jordan River. The boundary between the two states is still subject to dispute and negotia ...
to the
Israel-Palestine conflict. In July 2018, the party also voted in the European Parliament in favour of greater security coordination with Israel. At some level the party adhered to
Pan-Turanism
Turanism, also known as pan-Turanianism, pan-Turanism, or simply Turan, is a pseudoscientific pan-nationalist cultural and political movement proclaiming the need for close cooperation or political unification between people who are claimed by ...
, an ideology that asserts that
Hungarians
Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Urali ...
originate from the
Ural–Altaic race,
[Ghosh, Palash (December 06 2013)]
Strange Bedfellows: Hungarian Far-Right Jobbik Party Embraces Muslim Nations, Seeks 'Eurasian' Ideal Of Statehood
''International Business Times''. Retrieved August 31, 2014[Ungváry, Krisztián (5. February 2012)]
Turanism: the 'new' ideology of the far right
" BZT Media Kft. Retrieved August 31, 2014 and supported
Hungarian irredentism
Hungarian irredentism or Greater Hungary ( hu, Nagy-Magyarország) are irredentist political ideas concerning redemption of territories of the historical Kingdom of Hungary. Targeting at least to regain control over Hungarian-populated areas in H ...
.
Consequently, the party strongly supports closer ties with
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
, with Vona criticizing the
2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt
On 15 July 2016, a faction within the Turkish Armed Forces, organized as the Peace at Home Council, attempted a coup d'état against state institutions, including the government and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. They attempted to seize cont ...
and praising Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as a "very strong leader".
Jobbik, according to recent remarks from the party, no longer regards ideological issues as a primary goal, but instead focuses on the elimination of social tensions and controversies as well as on the fight against the growing corruption in the public sphere and administration.
Modern conservatism
In the summer of 2016 Gábor Vona, the president of Jobbik, declared a new style of politics, called "modern conservatism" with the aim of moving beyond pointless debates between the right- and the left-wing and to fostering
cooperation among Hungarians with different political backgrounds. According to Vona, the goal of "modern conservatism" is, to build a society that can, by its
proactivity
Proactivity or proactive behavior refers to self-initiated behavior that endeavours to solve a problem before it has occurred. Proactive behavior involves acting in advance of a future situation, rather than reacting. It refers to taking control o ...
, be a basis for a more
democratic political functioning. As a historical precedent, he referred to the ideals of
István Széchenyi
Count István Széchenyi de Sárvár-Felsővidék ( hu, sárvár-felsővidéki gróf Széchenyi István, ; archaically English: Stephen Széchenyi; 21 September 1791 – 8 April 1860) was a Hungarian politician, political theorist, and wri ...
, who is considered one of the greatest
statesmen of Hungarian history.
Relation to the European Union
Upon its formation, Jobbik had a strongly critical stance towards the European Union. The party regarded the accession of Hungary as a failure, and saw the EU as an organization that did not serve the interests of Hungarians. However, even in this period, the party did not refuse the idea of a radically reformed European
confederation
A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...
. After
Brexit
Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC ...
and the continuous debates on the future of the European Union, the party has reassessed its views on the EU and started to emphasize that by adequate policies and some EU reforms, the organization could be made advantageous for European nations. According to Jobbik, Hungary should join the
Eurozone
The euro area, commonly called eurozone (EZ), is a currency union of 19 member states of the European Union (EU) that have adopted the euro ( €) as their primary currency and sole legal tender, and have thus fully implemented EMU polici ...
as soon as possible since it is a not a political but an economic question. At his press conference on 27 October 2017, the president of the party, Gábor Vona, said that if some conditions were fulfilled Jobbik could even support further deepening of the EU.
In December 2018, Jobbik presented its 2019 European Parliament election program, in which the party highlighted three topics of key importance: European cohesion, joint European solution on migration issues and centralized European action against fake news. According to the published program, Jobbik stands for Hungarian membership of the EU and advocates for a just union based on the principle of solidarity laid out by
Robert Schuman and
Konrad Adenauer
Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (; 5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a German statesman who served as the first chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the first leader of the Christian Dem ...
.
Wage Union
Jobbik sees economic convergence and a pan-European wage union as important goals. Thus, a key element of the party's EU policy is the economic development of the eastern member states of the EU, thereby reducing the economic differences between East and West. The party believes that lack of development has led to corruption, and that both the EU and the governments of
Central and Eastern Europe have turned a blind eye to the problem. Therefore, Jobbik played a leading role in the formation of the Wage Union
European Citizens' Initiative
The European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) is a European Union (EU) mechanism aimed at increasing direct democracy by enabling "EU citizens to participate directly in the development of EU policies", introduced with the Treaty of Lisbon in 2007. The ...
, that started its work on 14 March 2017 with the participation of representatives from 8 Central European countries.
Economy
At its beginnings, Jobbik rejected globalised capitalism and the influence of
foreign investors
Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort.
In finance, the purpose of investing is ...
in Hungary. In the past, Jobbik has specifically opposed aggressive
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i investment in Hungary and what it termed a selling-out of the country. On 4 May 2013, protesting against the
World Jewish Congress
The World Jewish Congress (WJC) was founded in Geneva, Switzerland in August 1936 as an international federation of Jewish communities and organizations. According to its mission statement, the World Jewish Congress' main purpose is to act as ...
's choice to locate their 2013 congress in
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
, party chairman Gábor Vona said, "The Israeli conquerors, these investors, should look for another country in the world for themselves because Hungary is not for sale".
This was in response to a highly-controversial speech by the Israeli Prime Minister
Shimon Peres. On 10 October 2007, Peres said that "from such a small country as ours it is almost amazing, that we are buying up Manhattan, Hungary, Romania and Poland".
This statement created a heated debate in Hungary and Israel was obliged to explain the controversial words several times.
According to the party's 2017 Manifesto, an innovative economic policy should be followed, whose goal is to find opportunities in the global economy. An increasingly-important point of Jobbik's economic policy is the creation of a more-competitive national economy that is able to provide higher wages. The party aims to support
SMEs and a balanced development with
multinational companies
A multinational company (MNC), also referred to as a multinational enterprise (MNE), a transnational enterprise (TNE), a transnational corporation (TNC), an international corporation or a stateless corporation with subtle but contrasting senses, i ...
.
Public order
The party argued on its formation that the
national police National Police may refer to the national police forces of several countries:
*Afghanistan: Afghan National Police
*Haiti: Haitian National Police
*Colombia: National Police of Colombia
*Cuba: Cuban National Police
*East Timor: National Police of ...
should be greatly strengthened and, along with the
Fidesz
Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance (; hu, Fidesz – Magyar Polgári Szövetség) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Hungary, led by Viktor Orbán.
It was formed in 1988 under the name of Alliance of Young ...
, supports introducing a "
three strikes law
In the United States, habitual offender laws (commonly referred to as three-strikes laws) have been implemented since at least 1952, and are part of the United States Justice Department's Anti-Violence Strategy. These laws require a person who ...
". However, political rivals of Jobbik claim that its
connections with the ''Magyar Gárda'' militia (which is now banned) cast doubt on the party's commitment to peace and order in Hungarian society, and even within party ranks.
Jobbik have previously promised to restore the death penalty if they come to power.
Minority rights and demands for territorial autonomy for Hungarians outside of Hungary
![Magyarorszag 1920](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Magyarorszag_1920.png)
Jobbik strongly promotes the welfare of the large
Hungarian populations living outside Hungary as
ethnic minorities
The term 'minority group' has different usages depending on the context. According to its common usage, a minority group can simply be understood in terms of demographic sizes within a population: i.e. a group in society with the least number o ...
. The party demands minority rights for these groups in accordance with
Western Europe
Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context.
The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
an standards. Along with almost all current Hungarian political parties, Jobbik demands the reestablishment of
"territorial autonomy" in the
Székely Land
The Székely Land or Szeklerland ( hu, Székelyföld, ; ro, Ținutul Secuiesc and sometimes ; german: Szeklerland; la, Terra Siculorum) is a historic and ethnographic area in Romania, inhabited mainly by Székelys, a subgroup of Hungarians. I ...
of
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
, and desires to make
Carpathian Ruthenia
Carpathian Ruthenia ( rue, Карпатьска Русь, Karpat'ska Rus'; uk, Закарпаття, Zakarpattia; sk, Podkarpatská Rus; hu, Kárpátalja; ro, Transcarpatia; pl, Zakarpacie); cz, Podkarpatská Rus; german: Karpatenukrai ...
an independent Hungarian district
on the model of
South Tyrol
it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol
, settlement_type = Autonomous area, Autonomous Provinces of Italy, province
, image_skyline = ...
. Jobbik is frequently accused of agitating for a return to pre-Treaty-of-Trianon borders.
However, Jobbik has never suggested changing borders by force, and believes that the ultimate solution is territorial and cultural autonomy within a European Union framework of
minority rights
Minority rights are the normal individual rights as applied to members of racial, ethnic, class, religious, linguistic or gender and sexual minorities, and also the collective rights accorded to any minority group.
Civil-rights movements ...
.
One fourth of ethnic Hungarians live outside the country.
Many suffer
discrimination because of their ethnicity, causing frequent diplomatic disputes between Hungary and its neighbors. Jobbik dedicates itself to supporting the cause of Hungarian minorities in adjoining countries, vocally defending their schools, churches and cultural values.
The party's
2009 election slogan "Hungary belongs to the Hungarians" (''Magyarország a Magyaroké!'') attracted much scrutiny. While some critics dismissed the slogan as a tautology, others considered it a call to bigotry and complained to the National Electoral Commission, which ruled it "unconstitutional" on the eve of the election.
On 11 March 2014, in response to a demonstration in
Târgu Mureș
Târgu Mureș (, ; hu, Marosvásárhely ) is the seat of Mureș County in the historical region of Transylvania, Romania. It is the 16th largest Romanian city, with 134,290 inhabitants as of the 2011 census. It lies on the Mureș River, the ...
, the
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
n president
Traian Băsescu
Traian Băsescu (; born 4 November 1951) is a conservative Romanian politician who served as President of Romania from 2004 to 2014. Prior to his presidency, Băsescu served as Romanian Minister of Transport on multiple occasions between 1991 ...
publicly called for a ban on Jobbik members from entering Romania.
Besides defending the rights of ethnic Hungarians living abroad, Jobbik actively supports the cultural autonomy and language rights of the autochthonous
ethnic minorities living in Hungary.
The party has a pragmatic stance on cooperation among the
Central Europe
Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the a ...
an nations and states and, despite historical differences, strongly supports their common action within the EU. Jobbik leaders have called for action in the framework of the Wage Union European Citizens' Initiative.
History and development
Foundation
The group was first established in 2002 as the Right-Wing Christian Youth Community (''Jobboldali Ifjúsági Közösség – JOBBIK'') by a group of Catholic and Protestant university students. It was founded as a political party in October 2003, by Gabor Vona, the son of a
staunchly anti-Communist farming family.
[The Jobbik Party in Hungary: History and Background]
" Human Rights First, December 2015.. The new party elected
Dávid Kovács as president, serving until 2006. A key figure was
Gergely Pongrátz
Gergely Pongrátz ( Gherla, 18 February 1932 – Kiskunmajsa, 18 May 2005) was a famous veteran of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. He was the commander of arguably the largest and perhaps the best-known group of fighters , at the Uprising's str ...
who, in a speech to the founding conference, invoked the
Hungarian Revolution of 1956
The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hunga ...
.
Around Christmas 2003, Jobbik conducted a nationwide programme of erecting crosses, to remind Hungarians of the "true meaning" of the holiday. The move was criticized by several Christian intellectual groups.
Alliances
Even though the far-right
Hungarian Justice and Life Party (MIÉP) and Jobbik had publicly quarreled, the parties formed an electoral alliance for the
2006 national elections, the
MIÉP–Jobbik Third Way Alliance of Parties
The MIÉP–Jobbik Third Way Alliance of Parties (''MIÉP–Jobbik a Harmadik Út pártszövetség'') was an electoral alliance in Hungary led by István Csurka (Hungarian Justice and Life Party) and Dávid Kovács (Jobbik). In 2005, the Hungar ...
. The alliance sought to win votes from the major conservative
Fidesz
Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance (; hu, Fidesz – Magyar Polgári Szövetség) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Hungary, led by Viktor Orbán.
It was formed in 1988 under the name of Alliance of Young ...
party.
However, the alliance won only 2.2% of the votes, and Jobbik largely withdrew from it. In 2009 the State Audit Office (ÁSZ) reported the alliance for grave breaches of accounting rules. Jobbik blamed MIÉP alone for the irregularities.
Jobbik fought the 2010 and 2014 general elections without political allies. Recently, some left-wing
intellectual
An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or a ...
s suggested a
coalition between the left-liberal parties and Jobbik to challenge the Fidesz government; however Jobbik rejected the idea to cooperate with parties which they call "20th century powers". Nevertheless, Gábor Vona said in an interview that "We will need several bridges ... to voters on the left, not to parties on the left. Jobbik offers a message, a program both to former leftist and former rightist voters."
Magyar Gárda and conflicts in the party
![Magyar Gárda Kórus](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Magyar_G%C3%A1rda_K%C3%B3rus.jpg)
During the 2000s, public order was a key topic in Hungarian political life; especially after the 2006 lynching of a Hungarian teacher by
Roma people in the Eastern Hungarian village of
Olaszliszka
Olaszliszka is a village in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, Hungary.
Olaszliszka is nestled among the hills of the Tokay countryside (2 hours from Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the nin ...
. The case turned public attention to the failure of Roma integration and the inability of the
Hungarian police to maintain law and order in the Hungarian countryside. The idea of setting up a "national guard", similar to the
National Guard of the United States
The National Guard is a state-based military force that becomes part of the reserve components of the United States Army and the United States Air Force when activated for federal missions.[Magyar Gárda
Magyar Gárda Mozgalom (English: ''Hungarian Guard Movement'') founded by Magyar Gárda Hagyományőrző és Kulturális Egyesület (English: ''Hungarian Guard Association for Preservation of Traditions and Culture'') was a patriotic-nationalist ...]
("Hungarian Guard"). Its deed of foundation declared that it intended to become "part or core" of a national guard, to be set up in accordance with the
Gabriel Bethlen
Gabriel Bethlen ( hu, Bethlen Gábor; 15 November 1580 – 15 November 1629) was Prince of Transylvania from 1613 to 1629 and Duke of Opole from 1622 to 1625. He was also King-elect of Hungary from 1620 to 1621, but he never took control of th ...
programme, and to participate actively "in strengthening national self-defence" and "maintaining public order". Additional goals included supporting and organising social and charity missions, disaster prevention and civil defence. The foundation of the Guard caused fierce political debate.
On 10 March 2008, three leading figures resigned from the party: founding president
Dávid Kovács, committee chairman Ervin Nagy, and former ethics committee chairman Márton Fári. They named the Hungarian Guard as the cause of their resignation, stating that "Jobbik has been merged inseparably with the Guard, taking responsibility for something that it cannot really control in the long run".
On 2 July 2009 the Metropolitan Court of Appeal (''Fővárosi Ítélőtábla'') disbanded the Hungarian Guard Movement because the court held that its activities attacked the
human rights of minorities guaranteed by the
Constitution of Hungary
The Fundamental Law of Hungary ( hu, Magyarország alaptörvénye), the country's constitution, was adopted by parliament on 18 April 2011, promulgated by the president a week later and entered into force on 1 January 2012. It is Hungary's first c ...
. The Guard has attempted to reorganize itself as a civil service association, the ''Magyar Gárda Foundation'', engaged in cultural and nation building activities rather than politics. Its renewed activities are opposed by the Hungarian authorities
and prosecutors claim that the founding of the new organization is in contempt of previous court rulings.
After several schisms, the organization has largely ceased activity. On January 28, 2017, some radical members of the Magyar Gárda held a demonstration against Gábor Vona outside Jobbik's year-opening event. Participants denounced the new politics of Jobbik as a betrayal of the right wing.
Moderating the party
Before the 2014
parliamentary elections, Jobbik began a new policy: the so-called ''néppártosodás'' (transition to a people's party). The party adopted a new style of
communication
Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inqui ...
while reversing many radical elements of its earlier program.
Jobbik leaders declared that it has turned from a radical right-wing party into a moderate conservative people's party. President Gábor Vona, in an interview, promised to "cut the wildlings" - the one-time radicals.
In 2016, the party pursued its strategy of de-demonization by abandoning parts of its original ideology and excluding certain extremist elements. The aim was to make its image more respectable and present a credible opposition to the conservative government of
Viktor Orbán
Viktor Mihály Orbán (; born 31 May 1963) is a Hungarian politician who has served as prime minister of Hungary since 2010, previously holding the office from 1998 to 2002. He has presided over Fidesz since 1993, with a brief break between ...
.
Despite Jobbik's pledges, particularly to the Jewish community in Hungary, many left-wing intellectuals and political figures say they want to keep their distance from an organization deemed as undemocratic. Others, on the other hand - including philosopher
Ágnes Heller
Ágnes Heller (12 May 1929 – 19 July 2019) was a Hungarian philosopher and lecturer. She was a core member of the Budapest School philosophical forum in the 1960s and later taught political theory for 25 years at the New School for Social Res ...
- consider it necessary to ally with all opposition parties, including Jobbik, to defeat
Orbán's
Fidesz
Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance (; hu, Fidesz – Magyar Polgári Szövetség) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Hungary, led by Viktor Orbán.
It was formed in 1988 under the name of Alliance of Young ...
. Heller says that Jobbik has never been a neo-Nazi party, although she described them as far-right and racist. At the local level, however, implicit alliances were formed between left-wing parties and Jobbik in partial municipal elections to defeat the ruling-government party.
Although the party was commonly described as
far-right by observers and in the international press, from the mid-2010s it became more difficult to classify Jobbik in those terms because of its policy changes and
Fidesz
Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance (; hu, Fidesz – Magyar Polgári Szövetség) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Hungary, led by Viktor Orbán.
It was formed in 1988 under the name of Alliance of Young ...
's increasingly right-wing rhetoric.
Support for Jobbik is particularly strong among young people. Since 2014, the party has consciously tried to attract young people who are disappointed with other political parties. An international survey, conducted in 2016, found that 53 percent of Hungarians aged between 18 and 35 years would vote for Jobbik. However, Jobbik's strategy — moving away from its far-right roots and staking out a more centrist position — has resulted in the emergence of more radical dissident formations, like the new party
Force and Determination and
Our Homeland Movement
Our Homeland Movement ( Hungarian: ''Mi Hazánk Mozgalom,'' MHM) is a Hungarian far-right political party founded by Ásotthalom mayor and former Jobbik Vice-President László Toroczkai and other Jobbik dissidents that left the organization af ...
.
Crisis after 2018 and cooperation with other opposition parties
Prior to the 2018 parliamentary election,
Gábor Vona
Gábor Vona (born Gábor Zázrivecz; 20 August 1978) is a Hungarian historian, teacher and former nationalist politician who led the political party Jobbik from 2006 until 2018. He was the party's candidate for the position of prime minister i ...
promised that he would resign if he could not lead the party to victory. True to his word, he resigned after the results were announced. Despite rumors that Jobbik would change its policies, the National Board of the party unanimously decided in favor of the moderate, conservative policies. On 12 May 2018 the party elected
Tamás Sneider
Tamás Sneider (born 11 June 1972) is a Hungarian politician, who was leader of the Jobbik from May 2018 to January 2020. Before that he was one of the vice-presidents of the party from 2009 to 2018. He was a member of the parliament from 2010 ...
as the president and
Márton Gyöngyösi
Márton Gyöngyösi is a Hungarian politician, who has been the leader of the political party Jobbik since 2022. He was a Member of Parliament from 2010 to 2019. He was the leader of the Jobbik's parliamentary group from 2018 to 2019. He was el ...
as the executive vice-president of the party. The Hungarian press saw this as a victory for the moderate wing. Tamás Sneider announced that he wanted to build a socially conscious party, based on the teachings of Christianity.
Sneider's rival for the leadership of the party,
László Toroczkai
László Toroczkai (born László Tóth, 10 March 1978) is a Hungarian politician, journalist, leader of the Our Homeland Movement political party, and former mayor of Ásotthalom. He is also a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Counc ...
, received 46.2% of the votes. He threatened to split the party unless it returned to its original policies.
His platform included an end to immigration, stemming emigration of Hungarian youth to the wealthier west of the EU, a tough line on Hungary's Roma minority, and support for ethnic Hungarian minorities in neighboring states.
When his proposals were rejected, Toroczkai formed a new party with
Dóra Dúró
Dóra Dúró (born 5 March 1987) is a Hungarian politician of the Our Homeland Movement, formerly spokesperson of the far-right nationalist political party Jobbik.
After the 2010 elections, she was elected to the National Assembly of Hungary ...
:
Our Homeland Movement
Our Homeland Movement ( Hungarian: ''Mi Hazánk Mozgalom,'' MHM) is a Hungarian far-right political party founded by Ásotthalom mayor and former Jobbik Vice-President László Toroczkai and other Jobbik dissidents that left the organization af ...
.
On November 7, 2018, László Toroczkai announced that three former Jobbik politicians -
István Apáti,
Erik Fülöp and
János Volner - had joined ''Our Homeland Movement''.
In 2019, he reorganized the
Magyar Gárda
Magyar Gárda Mozgalom (English: ''Hungarian Guard Movement'') founded by Magyar Gárda Hagyományőrző és Kulturális Egyesület (English: ''Hungarian Guard Association for Preservation of Traditions and Culture'') was a patriotic-nationalist ...
and made it part of the
Our Homeland Movement
Our Homeland Movement ( Hungarian: ''Mi Hazánk Mozgalom,'' MHM) is a Hungarian far-right political party founded by Ásotthalom mayor and former Jobbik Vice-President László Toroczkai and other Jobbik dissidents that left the organization af ...
.
On December 12, 2018, the Hungarian Parliament adopted an amendment to the Overtime Act (Often called "Slave Law" by the opposition) on a scandalous session. On this day, representatives of Jobbik, MSZP, LMP, DK and Dialogue in the National Assembly disrupted the legislation by hesitating, shouting, broadcasting and preventing the presidential pulpit from obstructing the vote. Following the parliamentary meeting, mass protests began all over the country, where Jobbik is participating together with the other opposition parties. Following the demonstrations, left-wing politicians, including the President of the Hungarian Socialist Party Bertalan Tóth, suggested that opposition parties, including Jobbik, should run on a common list at the European Parliament elections.
Jobbik participated in the
2019 European Parliament election
The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peop ...
as a separate list. In these elections the party lost more than half of its support. These elections likely further motivated the party to collaborate with other groupings in the opposition. In the
2019 local elections the party in most parts of Hungary joined common lists with MSZP, DK, Dialogue and Momentum (in some cases, with local parties as well). Due to this, Jobbik candidates (who stood as independents) managed to win mayorships in
Eger
Eger ( , ; ; also known by other alternative names) is the county seat of Heves County, and the second largest city in Northern Hungary (after Miskolc). A city with county rights. Eger is best known for its castle, thermal baths, baroque bui ...
and
Dunaújváros
Dunaújváros (; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names) is an industrial city in Fejér County, Central Hungary. It is a city with county rights. Situated 70 kilometres (43 miles) south of Budapest on the Danube, the city i ...
or more easily retained ones it held before (e.g.
Törökszentmiklós
Törökszentmiklós is a town in Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county, in the Northern Great Plain region of central Hungary. It is the third-largest settlement in the county.
Geography
It covers an area of and has a population of 23,145 (2002).
His ...
).
On 25 January 2020,
Péter Jakab
Péter Jakab (born 16 August 1980) is a Hungarian politician and member of the National Assembly. He served as president of the right-wing Jobbik between January 2020 and June 2022. He had been the parliamentary group leader of Jobbik from July ...
was elected president of the party. He received more than 87 percent of the votes.
During the
2022 Hungarian parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Hungary on 3 April 2022 to elect the National Assembly, coinciding with a referendum.
Hungary's incumbent prime minister Viktor Orbán declared victory on Sunday night, with partial results showing his Fidesz ...
Jobbik participated in the opposition alliance
United for Hungary
United for Hungary ( hu, Egységben Magyarországért) is a political alliance in Hungary that was formed to compete in the 2022 parliamentary election.
History
The need for collaboration
The need for opposition cooperation stems from the cha ...
. Viktor Orbán's Fidesz won the election, acquiring two-thirds majority in the parliament again. Some analysts claimed that the majority of Jobbik voters turned out for Fidesz or Our Homeland Movement instead of the united opposition. Prime minister candidate of the alliance,
Péter Márki-Zay shared this assessment, admitting that the united opposition may have lost up to "two thirds" of Jobbik voters.
By the summer of the same year,
MEP Márton Gyöngyösi
Márton Gyöngyösi is a Hungarian politician, who has been the leader of the political party Jobbik since 2022. He was a Member of Parliament from 2010 to 2019. He was the leader of the Jobbik's parliamentary group from 2018 to 2019. He was el ...
won leadership contest.
International relations
Jobbik was a founding member of the
Alliance of European National Movements, alongside the French
National Front, Italy's
Tricolour Flame
The Social Movement Tricolour Flame ( it, Movimento Sociale Fiamma Tricolore, MSFT), commonly known as Tricolour Flame (''Fiamma Tricolore''), is a neo-fascist political party in Italy.
History
The party was started by the more radical members ...
, the
British National Party
The British National Party (BNP) is a far-right, fascist political party in the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in Wigton, Cumbria, and its leader is Adam Walker. A minor party, it has no elected representatives at any level of UK gover ...
, the Swedish
National Democrats, the Finnish
Blue and White Front, the Portuguese
National Renovator Party, and the Spanish
Republican Social Movement
The Republican Social Movement ( es, Movimiento Social Republicano, MSR) was a far-right political party in Spain. It was registered at the Ministry of Interior on November 30, 1999, with offices in Barcelona. The following year it merged with Vé ...
. Its membership ended in February 2016 when Jobbik cut its affiliation with AENM.
, Jobbik had ties to the
Conservative People's Party of Estonia
The Conservative People's Party of Estonia ( et, Eesti Konservatiivne Rahvaerakond, EKRE) is a national-conservative and right-wing populist political party in Estonia. It is currently led by Martin Helme. It was founded in March 2012, with the ...
,
the Bulgarian
United Patriots
The United Patriots (OP; bg, Обединени Патриоти; ОП, translit=Obedineni Patrioti; OP) was a nationalist electoral alliance in Bulgaria formed by three political parties: IMRO – Bulgarian National Movement (IMRO), Attack (unt ...
,
the Latvian
National Alliance,
the Polish
National Movement
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
, the Indian
Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mod ...
, the Russian
Rodina, and the Turkish
Nationalist Movement Party
The Nationalist Movement Party (alternatively translated as Nationalist Action Party; tr, Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi, MHP) is a Turkish far-right and ultranationalist political party. The group is often described as neo-fascist, and has bee ...
, although these connections began tapering off as the party moderated its platform and far-right factions began to split off.
Jobbik has proposed joining the
European People's Party, but was rejected in August 2018.
Controversy
During its period as a far-right party, Jobbik strenuously denied allegations of antisemitism or racism, saying that the allegations were either politically motivated, or simply false. It also dismissed the criticism of perceived antisemitism, racism, and homophobia as the "favourite topics" of its political opponents. Even so, the movement was accused of playing on those fears.
Comments by members
On the eve of the
2009 elections to the European parliament, a comment was posted on a Hungarian political internet forum, allegedly in the name of
Krisztina Morvai
Krisztina Morvai (born 22 June 1963) is a Hungarian lawyer and nationalist politician. She was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP), having been elected on the list of the political party Jobbik – Movement for a Better Hungary in the 200 ...
, who then headed the party's electoral list. Addressing their remarks to Hungarian Jews, the comment poster stated that they "would be glad if the so-called proud Hungarian Jews went back to playing with their tiny circumcised dicks instead of vilifying me."
News of this comment, which was roundly condemned,
spread rapidly around the world
and eventually even featured in an article in ''
The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...
''.
Morvai's critics pointed to her refusal to even discuss the issue,
let alone deny it,
implying that this was sufficient to ascribe authorship of the remarks to her.
Her supporters, however, claimed that though she certainly had a record of being critical of the state of Israel given a sympathy for the Palestinian cause she developed while working as an international human rights lawyer, the idea of Morvai being an antisemite was "simply ridiculous", given that at the time of her alleged remarks she was married to a Hungarian of Jewish origin,
with whom she had three children.
In a newsletter published by a group calling itself "The trade union of Hungarian police officers prepared for action", the following was allegedly printed: "Given our current situation, anti-Semitism is not just our right, but it is the duty of every Hungarian homeland lover, and we must prepare for armed battle against the Jews." The editor of the union, Judit Szima, was a Jobbik candidate in the upcoming election for the European Union parliament. ''
Haaretz'' alleged that Szima "didn't see anything wrong with the content of the article."
Cooperation between Jobbik and the trade union led by Szima was dismantled in 2010 and since then there has been no affiliation between them.
During spring 2012, Jobbik representative in Hungarian parliament Zsolt Baráth caused an outrage by commemorating 1882
blood libel
Blood libel or ritual murder libel (also blood accusation) is an antisemitic canardTurvey, Brent E. ''Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis'', Academic Press, 2008, p. 3. "Blood libel: An accusation of ritual mur ...
against the Jews in Parliament. The
Tiszaeszlár blood libel, found later to be unrelated to Jews, was known as the first major anti-Jewish event in modern Hungary, predating
the Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...
. Baráth's speech caused controversy among Jobbik MPs: some – despite finding it inappropriate and uncalled-for – stated that in a mature democracy there should not be taboo topics, while leaders of the Jobbik Parliamentary Group told the media that they had evaluated the speech and learnt the lesson that they should care more about what their MPs say. After the incident, Baráth was not re-elected and is no longer an MP of Jobbik.
In November 2012, while evaluating the latest news on the controversial
Israeli military action in the Gaza strip, the party's deputy parliamentary leader,
Márton Gyöngyösi
Márton Gyöngyösi is a Hungarian politician, who has been the leader of the political party Jobbik since 2022. He was a Member of Parliament from 2010 to 2019. He was the leader of the Jobbik's parliamentary group from 2018 to 2019. He was el ...
, stated in his speech in the Parliament: "I think such a conflict makes it timely to tally up people of Jewish ancestry who live here, especially in the Hungarian Parliament and the Hungarian government, who, indeed, pose a national security risk to Hungary." Gyöngyösi admitted immediately after his speech that he had composed his sentence wrongly, and that he meant to refer to MPs with Israeli-Hungarian
double citizenship, not to Jewish people. At the same time, Gyöngyösi offered an apology.
As
Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...
reported, the incident led to "international condemnation of Nazi-style policies and a protest outside the legislature in Budapest. Around ten thousand Hungarians in Budapest protested against Gyöngyösi's antisemitic remarks. All major Hungarian political parties took part in the protest. At the protest,
Attila Mesterházy
Attila Mesterházy (born 30 January 1974) is a Hungarian politician, who served as the seventh chairman of the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) from 10 July 2010 to 29 May 2014. He was the party's candidate for the position of Prime Minister of ...
, the leader of the successor of the state party of the communist era, the
Hungarian Socialist Party, described Jobbik as a "fascist possessions virus", while 5th district of Budapest mayor
Antal Rogán
Antal Rogán (born 29 January 1972) is a Hungarian economist and politician, who served as Mayor of Belváros-Lipótváros (fifth district of Budapest) from 2006 to 2014.
He became a member of the National Assembly (MP) in the 1998 parliamen ...
, representing the governing
Fidesz
Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance (; hu, Fidesz – Magyar Polgári Szövetség) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Hungary, led by Viktor Orbán.
It was formed in 1988 under the name of Alliance of Young ...
party, described Jobbik as "evil". Jewish organizations responded to Gyöngyösi's speech by describing it as a reintroduction of Nazism into the Hungarian parliament and by describing Jobbik as a
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
party.
In 2014, Tibor Ágoston, the deputy chairman of Jobbik's
Debrecen
Debrecen ( , is Hungary's second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the largest Hungarian city in the 18th century and ...
and
Hajdú-Bihar County
Hajdú-Bihar ( hu, Hajdú-Bihar megye, ) is an administrative county (comitatus or megye) in eastern Hungary, on the border with Romania. It shares borders with the Hungarian counties Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén, Jász-Nag ...
organization, referred to the Holocaust as the "holoscam". Tamás Horovitz, the chairman of the Debrecen Jewish Congregation, and the mayor of Debrecen,
Lajos Kósa, condemned Ágoston's remarks. Later, Ágoston harshly criticized Gábor Vona for not supporting Előd Novák and for cutting ties with the so-called "radicals" in the party.
In 2015,
deputy leader Előd Novák posted to his social media account on Facebook a picture of himself and his family next to a separate image of Rikardo Racz, the first newborn in Hungary of the year, who was born to a
Romani family. In a comment on the pictures, he stated that the population of Hungarians would become a minority and suggested that the Romani population was the biggest problem facing Hungary. Novák's remarks were both condemned and supported. Novák later responded to the issue by refusing to apologize and suggesting that the family should apologize to him. Előd Novák was forced by the party's parliamentary group to resign from his position as an MP in 2016. Now, he is a vocal critic of Jobbik's new policies.
World Jewish Congress protest
![Jobbik-NewHungarianGuard-May2013](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Jobbik-NewHungarianGuard-May2013.jpg)
On 4 May 2013, Jobbik members protested against the
World Jewish Congress
The World Jewish Congress (WJC) was founded in Geneva, Switzerland in August 1936 as an international federation of Jewish communities and organizations. According to its mission statement, the World Jewish Congress' main purpose is to act as ...
in
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
, claiming that the protest was against "a Jewish attempt to buy up
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
". Jobbik MP Enikő Hegedűs vociferously condemned both Israel and Jews at the rally as her husband, Lóránt Hegedűs Jr., stood nearby.
An ordained minister in the
Reformed Church in Hungary
The Reformed Church in Hungary ( hu, Magyarországi Református Egyház, MRE) is the largest Protestant church in Hungary, with parishes among the Hungarian diaspora abroad. Today, it is made up of 1,249 congregations in 27 presbyteries and fou ...
, Lóránt Hegedűs himself had served in the National Assembly as an MP of the far-right nationalist
Hungarian Justice and Life Party from 1998 to 2002.
He invited Holocaust denier
David Irving
David John Cawdell Irving (born 24 March 1938) is an English author and Holocaust denier who has written on the military and political history of World War II, with a focus on Nazi Germany. His works include '' The Destruction of Dresden'' (1 ...
to his Budapest church in 2007 as a "special guest",
and was also accused of antisemitism on several occasions for statements he made about Jews at Jobbik events. At a 2011 rally, he claimed that Jews orchestrated World War II and controlled the international media, and a year prior alleged that the Hungarian government was secretly cooperating with
Mossad to facilitate an Israeli takeover of Hungary with the assistance of Hungarian Jews and mainstream churches. After his wife's statement regarding the World Jewish Congress, the Reformed Church launched an inquiry into the minister's conduct, with presiding bishop
Gusztáv Bölcskei denouncing Hegedűs's activism for Jobbik as a "permanent provocation" incompatible with scripture.
President of Jobbik Gábor Vona later stated that he had criticized Zionism as a political idea, and pointed out that he understood the Hungarian Jewish community had to survive such traumas during the 20th century that make dialogue very hard. At the same time, he emphasized that he wanted to have harmonious relations with the Hungarian Jewish community.
In 2021,
Ronald S. Lauder, the leader of the World Jewish Congress, stated that some politicians who "made anti-Semitic statements in the past are still aligned with the party".
The "Hanukkah case"
In December 2016, Gábor Vona, in addition to his Christmas greetings to the nation's churches, as a gesture sent his greetings to his Jewish compatriots on the occasion of the
Jewish holidays
Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or ''Yamim Tovim'' ( he, ימים טובים, , Good Days, or singular , in transliterated Hebrew []), are holidays observed in Judaism and by JewsThis article focuses on practices of mainstre ...
. Vona'a message raised controversy among Hungarian Jewish communities. Vona had already stated before that those, even party members, who had wanted to see Jobbik as a racist or antisemitic party had been wrong. However, Vona took responsibility for turning a blind eye in such situations earlier.
Warnings against "EU slavery" and ethnic shift in Hungary
Gábor Vona earlier said that Hungarians became slaves because the European Union had only wanted Hungary to enter the EU because of its cheap workforce.
Vona also stated that "the number of Hungarians continues to fall while the gypsy population grows ever larger. This was not racism but a real social and economic problem. Anyone who doesn't understand this is not normal."
In a 2016 inverview, Vona announced that he believed the EU also had some advantages.
In a 2017 interview, Márton Gyöngyösi, deputy leader of the party's parliamentary group, pointed out that Jobbik seeks constructive reform of the European Union.
In addition, Gyöngyösi also said that in order to have a more harmonized EU, maybe some national competencies, such as labor conditions and wage regulations, could be reconsidered.
Opposition to LGBT+ rights as "sexual deviancy"
Jobbik opposes the expansion of rights for LGBT people as contrary to their Christian-conservative model. The party maintains that the most important social unit is the
traditional family. In April 2012, Jobbik tried to introduce a bill into the Hungarian parliament that would change the national constitution to allegedly "protect public morals and the mental health of the young generations" by banning the popularization of "sexual deviancy". The legislation was drafted by party spokesman Ádám Mirkóczki. This was to target "homosexuality, sex changes, transvestitism, bisexuality and paedophile behaviour". The proposed amendments would criminalise anyone who "popularizes their sexual relations—deviancy—with another person of the same sex, or other disturbances of sexual behaviour, before the wider public". The penalty would be three years in prison, or five years if 'popularizing' is done in front of minors. The draft legislation ultimately failed to pass. In 2021 Viktor Orban's Fidesz government passed a similar Law to the 2012 Jobbik one, in the form of
Hungarian anti-LGBT law
The Act LXXIX of 2021 on taking more severe action against paedophile offenders and amending certain Acts for the protection of children, often mentioned in English-language media as Hungary's anti-LGBT law are legislative amendments that were app ...
.
Jobbik has consistently opposed the annual Budapest Gay Pride march, on the grounds that it was “anti-Hungarian and anti-Christian.” In 2014 right-wing protestors affiliated with Jobbik and the 64 Counties movement shouted homophobic remarks and suggested that LGBT persons should be taken to the gas chambers.
Support for Miklós Horthy
Hungary continues to grapple with the
interwar period and the legacy of the one-time
Regent of Hungary
The Regent of Hungary was a position established in 1446 and renewed in 1920. It was held by Admiral Miklós Horthy until 1944. Under Hungary's Constitution there were two regents, one a regent of the ruling house, called the Nádor, and another ...
,
Miklós Horthy
Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya ( hu, Vitéz nagybányai Horthy Miklós; ; English: Nicholas Horthy; german: Nikolaus Horthy Ritter von Nagybánya; 18 June 1868 – 9 February 1957), was a Hungarian admiral and dictator who served as the regent ...
. Jobbik, like other right and centre-right parties in Hungary, supported a balanced view, appreciating the positive elements of the consolidation after the
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and Trianon trauma. On 3 November 2013, Márton Gyöngyösi and other Jobbik members unveiled a bronze bust of Horthy, a nationalist admiral who served as Regent from 1920 to 1944, in front of the "Church of Homecoming" in downtown Budapest's
Liberty Square, where Lóránt Hegedűs served as pastor.
The ceremony drew strong public and official condemnations over the legacy of Horthy, who
led Hungary into
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
in 1941 on the side of the
Axis powers
The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...
(which the country had officially
joined the previous year). Many Hungarians thus see Horthy as a source of deep national shame and as a Nazi collaborator, complicit in the murder of half a million Hungarian Jews in
the Holocaust in Hungary
The Holocaust in Hungary was the dispossession, deportation, and systematic murder of more than half of the Hungarian Jews, primarily after the German occupation of Hungary in March 1944.
At the time of the German invasion, Hungary had a Jewis ...
. Others, however, revere him as a national hero, ostensibly for guiding the country to stability in its chaotic interwar period; at the ceremony, Gyöngyösi proclaimed Horthy "the greatest Hungarian statesman of the 20th century".
Several thousand individuals — some of whom had pinned
yellow Stars of David on their clothing – came out to protest against the statue, and were met by a smaller crowd of far-right protesters near the church who responded with antisemitic and racist slurs. Mayor Antal Rogán condemned Jobbik's move as a "political provocation" that would allow the "western European left-wing press" to unfairly characterise Hungary as being plagued by antisemitic extremists. Hegedűs, who had already hung a portrait of Horthy by his church's entrance well prior to the statue's installation,
defended Horthy's legacy to journalists after the unveiling, calling it "unjust and historically wrong" to implicate the former leader in crimes against humanity because he was suspected, not prosecuted, at the
Nuremberg trials
The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II.
Between 1939 and 1945, Nazi Germany invaded m ...
.
In light of the furore over the statue, church officials announced that they would launch another official probe into Hegedűs's political activities.
Turanism affiliation
Jobbik had been affiliated with Turanism in the past and has been criticised as a "Turanist Trojan Horse in Europe" by the European media.
In 2013, the party's former leader
Gábor Vona
Gábor Vona (born Gábor Zázrivecz; 20 August 1978) is a Hungarian historian, teacher and former nationalist politician who led the political party Jobbik from 2006 until 2018. He was the party's candidate for the position of prime minister i ...
stated that he attached great importance to Turkish PM's Hungary visit by saying "As descendants of Turks, we value this visit".
Another act of goodwill of Jobbik towards Turkey and Azerbaijan, two fundamental actors in hypothetical
Turan
Turan ( ae, Tūiriiānəm, pal, Tūrān; fa, توران, Turân, , "The Land of Tur") is a historical region in Central Asia. The term is of Iranian origin and may refer to a particular prehistoric human settlement, a historic geographical re ...
, is that Jobbik's submission of a motion that aimed to "condemn the
genocide committed by the Armenian forces in Khojaly and the
Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan" to the Hungarian National Assembly as
Márton Gyöngyösi
Márton Gyöngyösi is a Hungarian politician, who has been the leader of the political party Jobbik since 2022. He was a Member of Parliament from 2010 to 2019. He was the leader of the Jobbik's parliamentary group from 2018 to 2019. He was el ...
, current leader of Jobbik, stated in 2011.
While he was the leader of Jobbik,
Vona was hosted in four universities in Turkey to give speeches in conferences. He emphasised the common ancestry of
Turks
Turk or Turks may refer to:
Communities and ethnic groups
* Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages
* Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
* Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...
and
Hungarians
Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Urali ...
explicitly by stating "We believe closer relations with Turkey will only benefit Europe. We do not agree with those parties that display an anti-Turkish and anti-Islamic stance. Turkey presents us with new opportunities. Turks and Hungarians share the same roots. Both are descendents of the Huns. If we stand against the Turks we will be standing against our own roots. The Turks are our brothers" as well as the importance of cooperation with
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
to the
EU as a whole.
Electoral performance
Growth and electoral success
The party faced its first electoral test with the coming of the
2009 European parliamentary elections. The election's results shocked their opponents: with the party sending three
MEPs to
Strasbourg; coming close to equal in number of votes with the governing
Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) while eliminating their liberal coalition partner
Alliance of Free Democrats
The Alliance of Free Democrats – Hungarian Liberal Party ( hu, Szabad Demokraták Szövetsége – a Magyar Liberális Párt, SZDSZ) was a liberal political party in Hungary.
The SZDSZ was a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrat ...
(SZDSZ), to become the nation's third largest party.
In London on 16 May 2008, the delegation of Jobbik's Committee of Foreign Affairs met
Nick Griffin
Nicholas John Griffin (born 1 March 1959) is a British politician and white supremacist who represented North West England as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2009 to 2014. He served as chairman and then president of the far-righ ...
, chairman of the
British National Party
The British National Party (BNP) is a far-right, fascist political party in the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in Wigton, Cumbria, and its leader is Adam Walker. A minor party, it has no elected representatives at any level of UK gover ...
. They discussed cooperation between the two parties, and the elections for the European Parliament. Griffin spoke at the party rally in August 2008, while former vice-president Zoltán Füzessy is presently resident in
Gravesend,
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, England.
The
Alliance of European National Movements (AENM) was formed in Budapest on 24 October 2009. The alliance's founding members were ''Jobbik'' (the Alliance was established during their sixth party congress), France's
National Front, UK's
British National Party
The British National Party (BNP) is a far-right, fascist political party in the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in Wigton, Cumbria, and its leader is Adam Walker. A minor party, it has no elected representatives at any level of UK gover ...
Italy's
Tricolour Flame
The Social Movement Tricolour Flame ( it, Movimento Sociale Fiamma Tricolore, MSFT), commonly known as Tricolour Flame (''Fiamma Tricolore''), is a neo-fascist political party in Italy.
History
The party was started by the more radical members ...
, Sweden's
National Democrats and Belgium's
National Front. Since January 2014
Béla Kovács has been its president. Since then Jobbik officially quit AENM and cut all ties with the members of the alliance.
On 12 April 2015, Jobbik's Lajos Rig defeated the
Fidesz
Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance (; hu, Fidesz – Magyar Polgári Szövetség) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Hungary, led by Viktor Orbán.
It was formed in 1988 under the name of Alliance of Young ...
candidate in a parliamentary by-election in
Veszprém County
Veszprém ( hu, Veszprém megye, ; german: Komitat Wesprim (Weißbrunn)) is an administrative county (''megye'') in Hungary. Veszprém is also the name of the capital city of Veszprém county.
Veszprém county
Veszprém county lies in western ...
. It was the second by-election lost by Fidesz after the national 2014 elections, leaving the ruling Fidesz-KDNP coalition two short of the parliamentary supermajority (''kétharmad'').
On 14 March 2017 Jobbik started close cooperation with Bulgarian
VMRO
The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; bg, Вътрешна Македонска Революционна Организация (ВМРО), translit=Vatrešna Makedonska Revoljucionna Organizacija (VMRO); mk, Внатр ...
,
Estonian Conservative People's Party
The Conservative People's Party of Estonia ( et, Eesti Konservatiivne Rahvaerakond, EKRE) is a national-conservative and right-wing populist political party in Estonia. It is currently led by Martin Helme. It was founded in March 2012, with the m ...
and Croatian GO! as well as with trade unions, such as the Polish Solidarność 80, in the framework of the Wage Union European Citizens' Initiative.
2014 Hungarian parliamentary elections
In November 2013, the party leader
Gábor Vona
Gábor Vona (born Gábor Zázrivecz; 20 August 1978) is a Hungarian historian, teacher and former nationalist politician who led the political party Jobbik from 2006 until 2018. He was the party's candidate for the position of prime minister i ...
expressed optimism about the election saying that the party planned "no less than election victory in 2014". He argued that Jobbik candidates had been faring well in local elections and that opinion surveys had showed that Jobbik was the most popular party among voters aged under 35. The party has prepared its election programme dubbed "We'll say it, we'll solve it", which focuses on guaranteeing people a livelihood, safety and order. Vona said his party would initiate a referendum on protecting Hungarian land and on amending Hungary's European Union accession treaty.
On 26 January 2014, Vona held a rally in London where he sharply criticised the election law for preventing Hungarians living abroad from voting by mail at the parliamentary election.
Electoral results
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
:†'' 2009 Seat winners: ''
::#
Krisztina Morvai
Krisztina Morvai (born 22 June 1963) is a Hungarian lawyer and nationalist politician. She was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP), having been elected on the list of the political party Jobbik – Movement for a Better Hungary in the 200 ...
::#
Zoltán Balczó – His seat EP was taken over by
Béla Kovács, when he became a member of the Hungarian Parliament in May 2010.
::#
Csanád Szegedi – He left the party in July 2012.
:†'' 2014 Seat winners: ''
::#
Krisztina Morvai
Krisztina Morvai (born 22 June 1963) is a Hungarian lawyer and nationalist politician. She was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP), having been elected on the list of the political party Jobbik – Movement for a Better Hungary in the 200 ...
::#
Zoltán Balczó
::#
Béla Kovács – He left the party in December 2017.
:†'' 2019 Seat winner: ''
::#
Márton Gyöngyösi
Márton Gyöngyösi is a Hungarian politician, who has been the leader of the political party Jobbik since 2022. He was a Member of Parliament from 2010 to 2019. He was the leader of the Jobbik's parliamentary group from 2018 to 2019. He was el ...
Mayoral, the last elections was in 2019:
*
Dunaújváros
Dunaújváros (; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names) is an industrial city in Fejér County, Central Hungary. It is a city with county rights. Situated 70 kilometres (43 miles) south of Budapest on the Danube, the city i ...
- Tamás Pintér (since 2019)
*
Eger
Eger ( , ; ; also known by other alternative names) is the county seat of Heves County, and the second largest city in Northern Hungary (after Miskolc). A city with county rights. Eger is best known for its castle, thermal baths, baroque bui ...
- Ádám Mirkóczki (since 2019)
*
Encs - Gergely Mikola (since 2019)
*
Jászberény
Jászberény is a city and market centre in Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county in Hungary.
Location
Jászberény is located in central Hungary, on the Zagyva River, a tributary of the Tisza River. It is about from Budapest.
History
The oldest ...
- Lóránt Budai (since 2019)
*
Kisherend - Zsolt Varga (since 2016)
*
Ózd
Ózd () is a town in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, Northern Hungary, from the county seat of Miskolc. Ózd is the second largest municipality in the county.
History
The area has been inhabited since ancient times. The village of Ózd was fi ...
– Dávid Janiczak (since 2014)
*
Szentes
Szentes is a town in south-eastern Hungary, Csongrád county, near the Tisza river. The town is a cultural and educational center of the region.
Notable people
* Árpád Balázs (born 1937), classical music composer
* János Bácskai 1954. novemb ...
- Zoltán Ferenc Szabó (since 2019)
*
Tapolca – Zoltán Dobó (since 2014)
History of leaders
Membership
Literature
*
*
References
External links
Official website(Hungarian)
Official website(English)
Changing of the GardaAn article in The Economist about the Hungarian far right
Deed of Foundation (Hungarian)
"Third way" platform: The nationalist right gets together(HVG)
{{Authority control
2003 establishments in Hungary
Hungarian nationalism
Nationalist parties in Hungary
Parties represented in the European Parliament
Political parties established in 2003
Right-wing populism in Hungary
Hungarian Turanism
Social conservative parties
Right-wing populist parties
National conservative parties
Right-wing parties in Europe
Centre-right parties in Europe
Anti-corruption parties
Christian political parties in Hungary
Conservative parties in Hungary
Pro-European political parties in Hungary