Less than a year after hosting four Euro football matches, Hungary signs another first in Magyar history by attracting one of the two biggest cycling races in the world.

A habit since the return of the nationalist Viktor Orban at the head of the government, in 2010, he who was reinforced by a fourth victory, overwhelming, in the legislative elections at the beginning of April.

The list of competitions hosted in Hungary is long: the Swimming Worlds will be back in June in the Duna Arena inaugurated in 2017, already for Worlds that the Danubian city must again organize in 2027, a third time in ten years.

In January, the semi-finals and the final of the men's handball Euro were played in the brand new Budapest Arena which appears on the road between the airport and the historic center.

The logo of the Tour of Italy, during the 2020 edition Marco Bertorello AFP / Archives

Next year, it will be the turn of the World Athletics Championships to settle in the Hungarian capital and in a new stadium under construction on the east bank of the Danube: the national athletics center, a 15,000-seat enclosure. permanent (but a capacity increased to 34,000 for the Worlds with temporary stands).

Two world judo championships have also been hosted by Budapest recently: last year, and before that in 2017 when Russian President Vladimir Putin was Orban's guest of honor.

Reconciliation with Putin

The Hungarian Prime Minister has moved closer since 2010 to the strong man of Moscow, whose inflation he imitated in the organization of competitions, until the banishment of Russia from world sport since the invasion of Russia. 'Ukraine.

Even if, unlike its vast eastern neighbour, Hungary has never hosted a football World Cup or the Olympic Games.

Budapest's candidacy for the 2024 Olympics was withdrawn a few months before the award in 2017, due to the "Nolimpia" petition of the opposition movement Momentum which had collected more than 266,000 signatures.

Still, the infrastructures are multiplying, in addition to the recent Olympic swimming pool (Duna Arena) and the future athletics stadium, therefore.

The city also has the rather recent Budapest Sportarena (2003), which hosted the Final 4 of the Handball Champions League last year, and the majestic Puskas Arena.

The Olympics, "eternal dream"

Orban did not say goodbye to his Olympic dream in words.

In an interview reviewing the Tokyo Games in the sports daily Nemzeti Sport, of which he is a regular columnist, the Prime Minister assured in August that "it is more and more evident each year that Hungary is worthy of welcoming the Olympic Games."

"The possibility has gone away, for the moment. But hosting the Olympics is an eternal dream for Hungarians. A love that never ends," ignited the authoritarian-style leader.

"Today, sport is a political weapon," summarizes Lukas Aubin, associate researcher at Iris, specializing in the geopolitics of sport and Russia, to AFP.

"Even if it does not work that much to improve his image abroad, it is a tool to legitimize his authority, to justify the importance of his regime. In Russia, the image of the president has not not consolidated abroad but it worked inside", supports the researcher, author of the book "La sportokratura sous Vladimir Putin".

On Wednesday, in this country with a weak cycling tradition, a compact crowd gathered on Heroes' Square in Budapest to attend the presentation of the teams.

Starring Hungarian Attila Valter, who last year became the first representative of his country to wear the pink jersey of the Giro.

© 2022 AFP