A jelen írás: A migránsok, a V4 és néhány tévedés (eredetiben Migrants the V4 and Some Misapprehensions) polemikus válasz Peter Volovsek angliai szerző Migration and the Crisis of Human Rights (A migráció és az emberi jogok válsága) című cikkére, amely a Social Europe baloldali online újságban jelent meg 2018. december 20-án.
Ismeretes, hogy az utóbbi időben százak haltak meg migránsok kezeitől Nyugat-Európában. Ennek tükrében abszurd és bizarr dolognak tartom arról cikkezni, hogy, mint a szerző írja, „a migránsok manapság nem kapnak kellő jogokat Európában”. Az abszurditást csak aláhúzza, hogy ez év január 8-án három álarcos (a rendőrség szerint valószínűsíthetően migránsok vagy migránspártiak) Brémában brutálisan megverték Frank Magnitz-ot, az AfD (Alternativ Németországnak) bevándorlás-ellenes párt ottani vezetőjét.
A szerző szerint azonban nem mindezzel, hanem a visegrádi országokkal van a baj, név szerint és különösen Orbán Viktorral és Jaroslaw Katzynskival. A válaszcikk nagyobbik részében ezeket a vádakat cáfolom, kitérve arra is, hogy eredetileg nem a szerzőtől, hanem szélsőbalos hazai körökből származnak.
A szerző legdurvább félreértése abban a részben jelenik meg, melyben a jelenlegi közép-európai politikaifolyamatokat az 1930-as évekéhez hasonlítja. Ezt a válaszban visszautasítom, mint hibás és méltatlan, de legalábbis tudatlan állítást. Végül javaslom, hogy próbálják meg valamelyest „megtanulni” a visegrádi országokat, mint ahogy mi is igyekszünk megérteni Európa többi részét és törekvéseit.
Angol nyelvű válasz:
In recent years in Western Europe, hundreds of people have died a violent death at the hands of criminals, most of them migrants. Meanwhile, authorities in several countries go out of their way to play down, conceal from the public, or cover up the responsibility of the murderers, and deny the existance of the so-called „no go zones” in a number of large cities. The „rights” of these people are regularly defended beyond reason, while at the same time a growing number of people are living in constant fear of their lives the safety of their daughters and wives. True, many still accept the philosophy and practice of „Willkommenskultur.”
In this situation, it is more than absurd and bizarre to talk about, lay emphasis on, and try to draw conclusions from „today’s attacks on stateless migrants”. (Peter Verovsek, Social Europe, Dec. 20, 2018.) The absurdity is underlined, as it were, by news of the most recent criminal act committed by migrants (their accomplices) in Germany: …”Frank Magnitz, a member of parliament and a leader of the anti-immigration AfD (Alternative for Germany) party in Bremen, was assaulted on Monday afternoon (Januar 8) and beaten unconscious by three masked assailants.” Even the politically controlled and cautious German police said that „…due to the function of the aggrieved party, a political motivation of the act can be assumed. But according to Mr. Verovsek, the problem is with the „intolerant” Visegrad (V4) countries, which „…argue that they are defenders of traditional European identity and culture in the face of ever-increasing globalization.” (Not so much of globalization, I must add, but of the rapid influx of non-Europeans, a result of which is, yes, the gradual destruction of (Christian) European identity and culture.
A serious and intolerable act of the V4, indeed. It follows then that the author call for due punishment: „although the Europen Union has resisted using the mechanisms at its disposal to censure (emphasis mine) the Visegrad governments, it must do so even if it costs the Europen People’s Party its majority in the European Parliament.”
Then it turns out that defending traditions is perhaps not the most serious crime committed by the V4, especially Poland and Hungary. „Victor Orbán’s Fidesz and Jaroslaw Kaczynsky’s Law and Justice parties have succeeded in creating regimes that combine elections and market economics with…gerrymandering, the manipulation of voting rules and control of the media. These all come with the rejection of individual human rights and the rights of social minorities. Known as the Visegrad Group, these parties have fueled a counter-revolution against „Western European dogmas” of tolerance and multiculturalism.”
These lines echo the usual accusations, many different versions of which we have been reading in the media for years, and which we have been refuting for years. I will not fall into the trap of trying to repeat all of this here again, but let me just touch upon briefly on two of the listed items: 1. government control of the media (other usual version: supressing the freedom of the press), and 2. rejection of individual human rights. These accusations did not start and are not most frequent in the international media; they started and are repeated ad nauseam within the V4 itself, especially in Hungary in the arrogant anti-government section of the media of the small, but power-hungry far left opposition. The only purpose is to overthrow the (legitimately elected) government. But because the governments are popular (with a two thirds parlamentary majority for instance in Hungary), and they know that they cannot win through democratic methods, they turn to other ones; they do not shrink from outrageus lies in order to spread misinformation to cause instability. Foreign sources supporting them have nothing to do but copy their lies the following day, sometimes verbatim. And they do not hesitate to do so, most often without checking on their truth value.
This is not very intriguing and perhaps not very unusual. The seemingly intriguing thing is that it is possible to spread misinformation endlessly and limitlessly with the government not only tolerating, but without trying to influence or correct it. Seemingly intriguing, I said. Because in reality there is nothing intriguing about this. The freedom of the media is a matter of course, and any control of it only exists in the wishful imagination of the unscrupulous ex-communists and other extremists, so they have something to rave about and attack the government.
Come to think of it. This is how „the government contols the media in the V4 countries.”
Much the same goes for the second claim („rejection of human rights”). Recently, there was a series of the usual political demonstrations in Budapest, some with a few thousand participants each and some with a few hundred (the average numbers the radical opposition can usually muster). For hours and days on end the speakers on the rostrum reviled and vilified the government and the Prime Minister for „denying the people their human rights.” Understand? I thought demonstrating was a human right. On this occasion, as on many similar others it was „denied” with the police standing nonchalantly on the side as usual. And when the agitated mob attacks the police, they take special care not to overreact, as it sometimes happens in some other countries.
But giving credit to the radicals’ spiteful lies is not Dr. Verovsek’s most regrettable misapprehension. At one point he indirectly likens the V4 „movements” to the 1930s: „The success of this movement in post-communist Europe – as well as the sympathetic reception they have received on the far right across the continent – testifies to a shocking historical amnesia.. We must remember the lessons of the 1930s…”
As we all know, the era of 1930s signifies the inception of fascism and nazism in Europe. A reference to the 1930s in this context is therefore not only out of place, it is actually an insult to the countries and their people in question. Not surprisingly, it leads directly to Verovsek’s conclusion with the suggested „censure” quoted above.
What I think is needed is not a censure of the Visegrad governments, and countries but making an effort to know them better, together with their histories and cultures, and understanding them better. In reciprocation it is almost for certain that these countries would make a bigger effort to understand and appreciate the rest of Europe and its aspirations.
Pordány László, volt kanadai nagykövet
a Nemzeti Fórum külügyi tanácsadója
A szerző szerint azonban nem mindezzel, hanem a visegrádi országokkal van a baj, név szerint és különösen Orbán Viktorral és Jaroslaw Katzynskival. A válaszcikk nagyobbik részében ezeket a vádakat cáfolom, kitérve arra is, hogy eredetileg nem a szerzőtől, hanem szélsőbalos hazai körökből származnak.
A szerző legdurvább félreértése abban a részben jelenik meg, melyben a jelenlegi közép-európai politikaifolyamatokat az 1930-as évekéhez hasonlítja. Ezt a válaszban visszautasítom, mint hibás és méltatlan, de legalábbis tudatlan állítást. Végül javaslom, hogy próbálják meg valamelyest „megtanulni” a visegrádi országokat, mint ahogy mi is igyekszünk megérteni Európa többi részét és törekvéseit.
Angol nyelvű válasz:
In recent years in Western Europe, hundreds of people have died a violent death at the hands of criminals, most of them migrants. Meanwhile, authorities in several countries go out of their way to play down, conceal from the public, or cover up the responsibility of the murderers, and deny the existance of the so-called „no go zones” in a number of large cities. The „rights” of these people are regularly defended beyond reason, while at the same time a growing number of people are living in constant fear of their lives the safety of their daughters and wives. True, many still accept the philosophy and practice of „Willkommenskultur.”
In this situation, it is more than absurd and bizarre to talk about, lay emphasis on, and try to draw conclusions from „today’s attacks on stateless migrants”. (Peter Verovsek, Social Europe, Dec. 20, 2018.) The absurdity is underlined, as it were, by news of the most recent criminal act committed by migrants (their accomplices) in Germany: …”Frank Magnitz, a member of parliament and a leader of the anti-immigration AfD (Alternative for Germany) party in Bremen, was assaulted on Monday afternoon (Januar 8) and beaten unconscious by three masked assailants.” Even the politically controlled and cautious German police said that „…due to the function of the aggrieved party, a political motivation of the act can be assumed. But according to Mr. Verovsek, the problem is with the „intolerant” Visegrad (V4) countries, which „…argue that they are defenders of traditional European identity and culture in the face of ever-increasing globalization.” (Not so much of globalization, I must add, but of the rapid influx of non-Europeans, a result of which is, yes, the gradual destruction of (Christian) European identity and culture.
A serious and intolerable act of the V4, indeed. It follows then that the author call for due punishment: „although the Europen Union has resisted using the mechanisms at its disposal to censure (emphasis mine) the Visegrad governments, it must do so even if it costs the Europen People’s Party its majority in the European Parliament.”
Then it turns out that defending traditions is perhaps not the most serious crime committed by the V4, especially Poland and Hungary. „Victor Orbán’s Fidesz and Jaroslaw Kaczynsky’s Law and Justice parties have succeeded in creating regimes that combine elections and market economics with…gerrymandering, the manipulation of voting rules and control of the media. These all come with the rejection of individual human rights and the rights of social minorities. Known as the Visegrad Group, these parties have fueled a counter-revolution against „Western European dogmas” of tolerance and multiculturalism.”
These lines echo the usual accusations, many different versions of which we have been reading in the media for years, and which we have been refuting for years. I will not fall into the trap of trying to repeat all of this here again, but let me just touch upon briefly on two of the listed items: 1. government control of the media (other usual version: supressing the freedom of the press), and 2. rejection of individual human rights. These accusations did not start and are not most frequent in the international media; they started and are repeated ad nauseam within the V4 itself, especially in Hungary in the arrogant anti-government section of the media of the small, but power-hungry far left opposition. The only purpose is to overthrow the (legitimately elected) government. But because the governments are popular (with a two thirds parlamentary majority for instance in Hungary), and they know that they cannot win through democratic methods, they turn to other ones; they do not shrink from outrageus lies in order to spread misinformation to cause instability. Foreign sources supporting them have nothing to do but copy their lies the following day, sometimes verbatim. And they do not hesitate to do so, most often without checking on their truth value.
This is not very intriguing and perhaps not very unusual. The seemingly intriguing thing is that it is possible to spread misinformation endlessly and limitlessly with the government not only tolerating, but without trying to influence or correct it. Seemingly intriguing, I said. Because in reality there is nothing intriguing about this. The freedom of the media is a matter of course, and any control of it only exists in the wishful imagination of the unscrupulous ex-communists and other extremists, so they have something to rave about and attack the government.
Come to think of it. This is how „the government contols the media in the V4 countries.”
Much the same goes for the second claim („rejection of human rights”). Recently, there was a series of the usual political demonstrations in Budapest, some with a few thousand participants each and some with a few hundred (the average numbers the radical opposition can usually muster). For hours and days on end the speakers on the rostrum reviled and vilified the government and the Prime Minister for „denying the people their human rights.” Understand? I thought demonstrating was a human right. On this occasion, as on many similar others it was „denied” with the police standing nonchalantly on the side as usual. And when the agitated mob attacks the police, they take special care not to overreact, as it sometimes happens in some other countries.
But giving credit to the radicals’ spiteful lies is not Dr. Verovsek’s most regrettable misapprehension. At one point he indirectly likens the V4 „movements” to the 1930s: „The success of this movement in post-communist Europe – as well as the sympathetic reception they have received on the far right across the continent – testifies to a shocking historical amnesia.. We must remember the lessons of the 1930s…”
As we all know, the era of 1930s signifies the inception of fascism and nazism in Europe. A reference to the 1930s in this context is therefore not only out of place, it is actually an insult to the countries and their people in question. Not surprisingly, it leads directly to Verovsek’s conclusion with the suggested „censure” quoted above.
What I think is needed is not a censure of the Visegrad governments, and countries but making an effort to know them better, together with their histories and cultures, and understanding them better. In reciprocation it is almost for certain that these countries would make a bigger effort to understand and appreciate the rest of Europe and its aspirations.
Pordány László, volt kanadai nagykövet
a Nemzeti Fórum külügyi tanácsadója