by Joris Charlie Poure, University of Tartu
Resilience is a beautiful thing… right?
If the Baltics are anything to go by, yes: it is. There is something incredible in a people remaining united through belief, a hope that things will be better. To have them resist and continue on their path, on their stance, despite profoundly difficult circumstances. This was the core of Baltic societies that were finally able, in the nineties, to choose their paths and realize themselves fully (or to be on their way to doing so). Resilience unites people, unites society, makes the state… resilience builds a nation.
But, in an ironic twist of fate, it can also be the herald of something sinister: resilience can unmake a nation. “Impossible” might be the gut-feeling answer to this claim, but perhaps the example of Hungary and of the work undertaken by Viktor Orbán and his party makes this first illogical-sounding claim more tangible. The resilience of the Hungarian people could be their country’s biggest hindrance in the future.
The crisis, a controversy-stricken leadership, and rising prices opened the regal way for the future prime minister to utilize the country’s resilience in the face of difficulty for enormous political gain.
Ever since the nineties, Fidez and its leader Orban, have changed a lot. What started as a tiny, pro-European party, with some degree of leftist and liberal ideas early in the 90s, has now become an identarian behemoth following their landslide victory in the 2010 elections. To get there, Orban has been smart: he has felt the pulse of Hungary and understood what people wanted most, especially at times when Hungarian society’s resilience was being tested following the events of 2008. The crisis, a controversy-stricken leadership, and rising prices opened the regal way for the future prime minister to utilize the country’s resilience in the face of difficulty for enormous political gain. Just like in the nineties and before, when Orban spoke for more proximity with the West, the people listened and acted.
Since then, Hungarian resilience has been the basis for a narrative profiting the government: a state and people with few real allies, resisting the East but facing the West, trying to remain who they truly are – believers in God and a proud people of mothers and fathers. Not bowing down to the ideologies of Brussels. The idea is clear and Orban has made it obvious for a while: Hungary has been resilient, often forcing Brussels into concessions with Poland’s help. But has that resilience made them stronger? No.
Their rejection of immigration and their hostile policies towards the educated masses like doctors and journalists bit back. Hungary has not been doing well since 2018. Many people left and many will leave. Immigration could be the answer, and immigration scholarship has shown that it does not hinder resilience but has a positive impact. This resilience expressed by the people and the political establishment might be impressive, but it hurts their nation’s economic and perhaps societal resilience in the long term. Resilience damaging resilience may sound wrong, but society’s resilience to what they see as “hardships” is hurting Hungary’s state resilience potential.
- This blog is a part of a blog series written by the BAMSE Riga intensive course students. The blog series analyses the concept of resilience from five different viewpoints: democracy in crises, regional responses, social consequences, relevance of history politics and cultural approaches. This blog belongs to the democracy in crises part of the blog series. Read more about the blog series on Bamse News & Events website.