Prime Minister Viktor Orban is likely to use his sweeping victory in parliamentary elections in Hungary to promote his anti-immigration agenda across Europe and target groups critical of his policies, analysts said Monday.
The strengthened mandate for Mr Orban, a right-wing nationalist, will allow him to push through laws aimed at the Hungarian-born US financier George Soros, whose charitable foundation backs open borders and supported migrant groups.
The prime minister’s re-election with a thumping two-thirds majority was built on his fiery anti-Muslim migrant rhetoric after positioning himself as the saviour of Hungary’s Christian culture.
His government built a southern border fence and has been at loggerheads with the European Union over its handling of the 2015 migration crisis when millions of people crossed the bloc’s borders because of conflict in North Africa and the Middle East.
His campaigning focused on warnings that his opponents wanted to tear down the fences and allow mass migration. His claims was rejected by the opposition, who included staunch far-right anti-immigrant parties, but they failed to dent Mr Orban’s popularity.
His message resonated with voters, predominantly in rural areas, with turnout up from the last election, giving his party the right to push through major constitutional changes. Fidesz and its ally secured 133 of the 199 seats in parliament with most of the votes counted, with another far-right nationalist party, Jobbik, in second place with 26 seats.
"The opposition didn't have a clear answer to the migration question," Andrea Virag, of the Republikon think-tank, told The National. "And in the last two weeks of the campaign, the only topic was migration. It was a campaign that worked for him."
In his celebratory address to thousands of cheering supporters, Mr Orban said the result gave Hungarians “the opportunity to defend themselves and to defend Hungary”. The victory was celebrated by far-right politicians across Europe including France’s Marine Le Pen and Geert Wilders in the Netherlands.
Hungary has only a small Muslim population of about 40,000 people but Mr Orban used the migration issue to play on historical Hungarian fears of outsiders after centuries of military defeats and invasion.
Mr Orban’s electoral success – winning his third successive two-thirds majority – has ensured that he remains a continued irritant to the EU, whose larger members such as Britain and France have much more liberal policies for migration.
Mr Orban’s spokesman Zoltán Kovács said that migration “will pose the biggest threat to Europe” and that the leader’s voice would be a significant voice for the direction of future policy.
German chancellor Angela Merkel wrote to congratulate Mr Orban on his victory and said she would work with his new government. “It is quite obvious that there are also controversial issues in our cooperation, the different stances in migration policy come to mind,” said government spokesman Steffen Seibert.
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Read more:
Hungary's prime minister ramps up anti-migrant rhetoric in fight for third term
Orban launches fresh attack against George Soros at election rally
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Mr Orban’s Fidesz party will be able to push through the ‘Stop Soros’ law because of a failed attempts by the fractured opposition to put up single candidates to maximise their strength.
The opposition won most seats in the capital Budapest but could have taken them all if parties ranging from the far-right to the socialists had been more willing to form an anti-Orban front, said Ms Virag.
That failure allowed Mr Orban to secure a two-thirds majority which will allow Mr Orban to push through the so-called ‘Stop Soros’ law.
Among its proposed measures are a 25 per cent tax on foreign donations collected by NGOs that “support illegal immigration” and restraining orders on activists from approaching the EU’s external borders in Hungary. Mr Orban has described immigration as an issue of national security.
A Fidesz spokesman told state radio on Monday said lawmakers would start work later this month on a package that is “needed in the interest of the country, which could be the Stop Soros legal package”.
Activists said that the ‘Stop Soros’ campaign could have a chilling impact on Hungarian society. The laws not only target groups involved in migration issues but “opens the door to further arbitrary and politically motivated measures against civil society and freedom of expression in Hungary,” said a coalition of groups in the run-up to the election.
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
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Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
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The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
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The bio
Who inspires you?
I am in awe of the remarkable women in the Arab region, both big and small, pushing boundaries and becoming role models for generations. Emily Nasrallah was a writer, journalist, teacher and women’s rights activist
How do you relax?
Yoga relaxes me and helps me relieve tension, especially now when we’re practically chained to laptops and desks. I enjoy learning more about music and the history of famous music bands and genres.
What is favourite book?
The Perks of Being a Wallflower - I think I've read it more than 7 times
What is your favourite Arabic film?
Hala2 Lawen (Translation: Where Do We Go Now?) by Nadine Labaki
What is favourite English film?
Mamma Mia
Best piece of advice to someone looking for a career at Google?
If you’re interested in a career at Google, deep dive into the different career paths and pinpoint the space you want to join. When you know your space, you’re likely to identify the skills you need to develop.
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History's medical milestones
1799 - First small pox vaccine administered
1846 - First public demonstration of anaesthesia in surgery
1861 - Louis Pasteur published his germ theory which proved that bacteria caused diseases
1895 - Discovery of x-rays
1923 - Heart valve surgery performed successfully for first time
1928 - Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
1953 - Structure of DNA discovered
1952 - First organ transplant - a kidney - takes place
1954 - Clinical trials of birth control pill
1979 - MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, scanned used to diagnose illness and injury.
1998 - The first adult live-donor liver transplant is carried out
Brief scoreline:
Tottenham 1
Son 78'
Manchester City 0
Results
1.30pm Handicap (PA) Dh50,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner Al Suhooj, Saif Al Balushi (jockey), Khalifa Al Neyadi (trainer)
2pm Handicap (TB) 68,000 (D) 1,950m
Winner Miracle Maker, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer
2.30pm Maiden (TB) Dh60,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner Mazagran, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
3pm Handicap (TB) Dh84,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner Tailor’s Row, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
3.30pm Handicap (TB) Dh76,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner Alla Mahlak, Adrie de Vries, Rashed Bouresly
4pm Maiden (TB) Dh60,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner Hurry Up, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
4.30pm Handicap (TB) Dh68,000 (D) 1,200m
Key findings
- Over a period of seven years, a team of scientists analysed dietary data from 50,000 North American adults.
- Eating one or two meals a day was associated with a relative decrease in BMI, compared with three meals. Snacks count as a meal. Likewise, participants who ate more than three meals a day experienced an increase in BMI: the more meals a day, the greater the increase.
- People who ate breakfast experienced a relative decrease in their BMI compared with “breakfast-skippers”.
- Those who turned the eating day on its head to make breakfast the biggest meal of the day, did even better.
- But scrapping dinner altogether gave the best results. The study found that the BMI of subjects who had a long overnight fast (of 18 hours or more) decreased when compared even with those who had a medium overnight fast, of between 12 and 17 hours.
Drishyam 2
Directed by: Jeethu Joseph
Starring: Mohanlal, Meena, Ansiba, Murali Gopy
Rating: 4 stars
