Hey diddle diddle, Viktor Orban and the fiddle

The people jump over the moon. ‘Hungary is bewitched by Orban - as if he were the pied piper of Hamelin,’ commented the Berlin-based Hungarian nobel laureate Imre Kertez in an interview with French newspaper Le Monde in February. The populist flute tones are mainly directed against threats from the outside: the USA, Europe, IMF but Roma and Jewish people too. ‘Orbanistan’ is the new nickname given by the international press to the Hungarian republic. Europe’s bad boy is Viktor Orban. His ruling fidesz party has a juicy two-thirds majority, bringing a new constitution and media law criticised by international human rights organisations. As the gang at cafebabel Budapest describe it, ‘Our prime minister wakes up in the morning, has an idea, and by mid-week it’s passed’. He restructures ‘on the qt’: alternative locations close down, right-wing extremists become theatre directors, state television is censored. Meanwhile international media sound the alarm and sparks often fly against ‘Mr. Viktator’ in the European parliament. But other than financial pressure, the EU didn’t play many of their human rights cards against the country. An ever politicised youth are fighting for a place to protest on 15 March, a national holiday, in Budapest (Image: ©Kristof)