The Romanian media normally ignores the annual Fidesz extravaganza in Romania, but this year a lot of commentators complained about Orbán’s comments on the centenary of Transylvania’s unification with the Romanian Old Kingdom or the Regat. I think it was superfluous and somewhat provocative for Orbán to dwell on the Romanian celebration of the birth of modern Romania, which for Hungary meant the loss of Transylvania. But there were a few Romanian journalists who also zeroed in on Orbán’s illiberal message. I especially enjoyed Lelia Munteanu’s article “Orbannon la Băile Tuşnad” in Gandul, a liberal paper. Listening to Orbán, she wrote, “was hearing the voice and seeing the face of Steve Bannon … the newest apostle of populist internationalism and anti-globalization.”

Steve Bannon was one of the featured speakers at the “Future of Europe” conference, held in Budapest on May 23-24, which was advertised as “an outstanding cultural and scientific event of the V4 Hungarian Presidency.” On that occasion, Bannon had the opportunity to spend an hour with the Hungarian prime minister. This outstanding cultural and scientific event was described by Tim Gosling, a journalist who has been covering the region for almost a decade, as “an alt-right activist bonanza.” Gosling claims that Bannon is clueless when it comes to the region. One of the examples he gave is telling. In Prague, Bannon went on and on about “unfair competition using underpaid labor in other countries,” which not unnaturally was followed by stunned silence, because approximately 80% of the Czech Republic’s GDP comes from exports. Hungarian right-wing commentators, including the late István Lovas, also spotted Bannon’s ignorance of the political and economic woes of the Visegrád 4 countries. He noted that “this man shouldn’t have been invited to the conference and if he was, Orbán shouldn’t have received him.”

Bannon began his European roadshow in Italy, where he celebrated the victory of the populist forces in the general election. From there he had meetings with the leaders of all of Europe’s far-right movements and parties. The democratic forces on the continent are watching all this with growing suspicion because, as Natalie Nougayrède of The Guardian put it, “Don’t be fooled by Bannon’s split with Trump. He’s leading a Trumpian onslaught to undermine European democracy itself.”

A week ago we learned that Bannon’s tour of Europe inspired him to take the lead in organizing a “united” alt-right in Europe. He was surprised to learn that the far-right movements were not sharing skills and expertise. He thinks that the establishment of a non-profit foundation that would coordinate their activities would make an appreciable difference at the next European parliamentary election in May 2019, where Bannon believes a large far-right “super group” could attract as many as a third of the MPs, 236 to be precise. This foundation, called “The Movement,” will be a central source of polling, advice on messaging, data targeting, and think-tank research. In brief, all the dirty tricks of the far right, including fake news factories, would be employed by Bannon’s foundation. What we know about this future foundation comes from The Daily Beast, which had a lengthy interview with Bannon. Initially, The Movement will have only about 10 associates headquartered in Brussels. The staff will include a polling expert, a communications person, an officer manager, and a researcher. If all goes according to plans, the staff will grow to about 25 people.

Bannon is not hiding his goals. He believes that very soon a “drastic break” will occur after decades of European integration. Europe will return to “individual nation states with their own identities, their own borders.” He believes that the grassroots movements are already in place, and therefore the change “will be instantaneous—as soon as we flip the switch.” In brief, he is openly working for the destruction of the European Union, which, I’m sure, his former boss, Donald Trump, would welcome.

Last Friday Viktor Orbán had his regular interview on Magyar Rádió, during which he was asked his opinion of Steve Bannon’s brainchild, The Movement. I should add that I’m convinced that the interviewer draws from a set of pre-approved questions. So, I assume that Orbán wanted to talk about Bannon’s movement. First, he made fun of American outrage at Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election when the United States has been meddling in other countries’ affairs forever. He has been in politics for 30 years, and he doesn’t remember one single year that the United States didn’t interfere in Hungarian affairs. Most of the tampering is done via foundations, which “hide behind catchy humanitarian slogans” and meddle in the domestic affairs of other countries. He claimed that about 67 such pseudo-organizations exist in Hungary, all of which promote liberal causes. But now here is an American who says that “we conservative, Christian Democratic Americans should also make our views heard in Europe.” Orbán wished him well in his endeavors.

In the middle of June Orbán delivered a speech at a conference held in memory of Helmut Kohl, where he indicated that at the 2019 EP election “it would be easy to, say, establish a new formation from like-minded Central European parties—or, indeed, a pan-European anti-immigration formation. There is no doubt that we would have great success in the 2019 European elections.” Orbán and Bannon both speak of the same far-right, Euroskeptic formation, but at that time Orbán rejected this solution and expressed his resolve to stand by Helmut Kohl’s ideals and party.

Szilárd Teczár of Magyar Narancs devoted a lengthy article to the possibility that such a “horror coalition” can be formed after the 2019 EP election. His conclusion is that although the far right most likely will have greater representation in the European Parliament, they will not have the necessary numbers, especially after Brexit, when the 39 Tory and UKIP members can no longer participate in the work of the European Parliament. Der Spiegel comes to a similar conclusion when it claims that “the right-wingers in the EU Parliament come to around 100 seats,” and “increasing their number to 250 and uniting them into a powerful united front seems like an impossibility.”However, observers point out that “Bannon is a professional who has proven many times that he understands his craft.”

Some European politicians have reacted nervously to Bannon’s activities. They want to prevent Bannon from operating in Europe. In the United Kingdom signatures are being collected for a petition to ban Bannon from the U.K. Yet, one shouldn’t get panicky. Bannon seems to be a novice when it comes to the intricate political situation within the European Union and has no inkling about Europeans’ modus operandi. And then there is the general contempt for Donald Trump in Europe. Even in Hungary, his popularity is only 4%. Therefore, I’m hoping that Bannon’s activities may achieve the opposite of what he originally intended.

Source: Hungarian Spectrum