Viktor Orbán had no illusions about the outcome of the case.

This is probably why the Hungarian prime minister, as a precaution, gave his reading in a keynote speech last weekend, with which he heralded the hot phase of the domestic election campaign.

Orbán said that the experience of the communist dictatorship and its overcoming through nation, belief in God and private property fundamentally differentiates Central Europeans from the West.

"That's why we can't come to a consensus on the question of the rule of law and democracy." The West is waging "a holy war, a constitutional jihad."

But he, Orbán, is now leading the "Reconquista".

Stephen Lowenstein

Political correspondent based in Vienna.

  • Follow I follow

His followers then focused a little more on a specific point when they reacted to the ECJ decision on Wednesday.

It is about the family policy of the national conservative governing party Fidesz, specifically about the law against the public display of homosexuality and gender reassignment in front of children.

This has nothing to do with the new EU mechanism, but a lot to do with the parliamentary elections on April 3rd.

A referendum on the LGBT issue was scheduled for the same day.

The fact that Orbán obviously sees this as an election campaign hit is also due to the fact that the issue is dividing the broad opposition front into left and right.

A "political decision"?

In fact, the EU Commission was critical of the anti-LGBT law last year.

Hungary's Justice Minister Judit Varga has now described the ECJ's decision as a "political decision" and as an "example of how Brussels abuses its power".

In his speech last weekend, Viktor Orbán did not forget to mention the Hungarian-born American financial investor and NGO patron George Soros.

For example in connection with the topic of migration, or when he spoke about the "Judasse" that Soros could win for everything with his money.

Orbán is adept at using dark insinuations to spark criticism from the liberal West, which is likely to lead to post-election battlefield skirmishes.

This time, some of the media in Germany did not respond to the "Judasse".

They took up Orbán's rhetorical question "whether" the EU wanted to stay together.

Of course, that was not a sign of an exit, Orbán's apparatus later railed.

All such interpretations are the product of a "German fake news machine".

After all, Orbán had expressly stated that for his part he wanted to keep the EU together.

It's useful for the government to talk about all this instead of the numerous allegations of corruption and nepotism in the country.

One example is the case of Orbán’s son-in-law, whose company at the time received orders for new street lighting from numerous municipalities up until 2014.

The case even led to a report by the EU anti-fraud agency OLAF, which does not have its own law enforcement powers.

Hungarian investigations petered out afterwards.

The new “EU conditionality mechanism” is about questions like these, about the independence of the judiciary and law enforcement, not about LGBT people or migration.