A few days ago I reported, in passing, on a speech by Mária Schmidt, director of the House of Terror and one of the most loyal supporters and defenders of Viktor Orbán. In that speech, she unabashedly praised Miklós Horthy, governor of the Kingdom of Hungary between the two world wars. In Schmidt’s view, he “restored the self-esteem of the nation, and three counts—István Betlen, Pál Teleki, and Kuno Klebelsberg—helped save the country and preserve the nation.” Until this speech no responsible Fidesz politician dared, at least not that openly, to avow that Miklós Horthy was a savior of the Hungarian nation. It is hard to know whether Schmidt’s often unexpected opinions on past and current events are the result of a bizarre worldview peculiar to Schmidt or whether she represents trends within the highest leadership of Fidesz.
In the last couple of years she has consistently expressed her loathing for Germany. I don’t know how long Schmidt has been harboring such a hatred of all things German, but it seems to be deeply ingrained in her historical consciousness. A few days after receiving the Deutscher Wirtschafsclub Ungarn’s Prize of German-Hungarian Friendship in May 2017, she had no problem accusing today’s Germans of fulfilling Hitler’s plans to conquer Europe. She reiterated her antagonistic feelings towards Berlin after the Sargentini Report, condemning the Orbán regime, passed with more than a two-third’s majority in the European Parliament last September. Given the overwhelming support for the report, why did Schmidt single out Germany? Because, it seems, Manfred Weber, the Christian Democratic Spitzenkandidat, also voted for the bill. Yes, it looks as if Schmidt foresaw that Weber, despite his less than resolute opposition to Viktor Orbán and his regime, posed a danger to Fidesz in the international arena. Her feelings against the man furthered inflamed her prejudice against the whole German political elite, past and present.
In her view, the European Union is actually ruled by Angela Merkel, and anyone who stands against her, like Viktor Orbán on the question of immigration, must perish. There is nothing new in that, claims Schmidt. Merkel is only continuing a long trend. “Just as Kaiser Wilhelm II and Adolf Hitler attempted to rule a united Europe” Merkel has the same objective. But Schmidt is optimistic. As she put it, the Germans were in Paris and at the gates of Moscow. They are good at winning battles, “but they mostly lost the wars.”
A few days ago, Mária Schmidt returned to her vilification of Germany and German politicians. She chose a line from one of Sándor Petőfi’s poems, written in June 1848: “The Hungarian people are free … Germany, your days are gone.” An ominous beginning, even if Petőfi’s “Germans” were actually Austrians. Central to her condemnation this time was Manfred Weber, whom she often calls “the Bavarian” without mentioning his name. “The Bavarian” brings shame to Franz Josef Strauss’s party.” Calling CSU Franz Josef Strauss’s party may be something of a double-pronged attack since, at the time of his death, he was described as a man who “exercised a caustic and often contentious influence” on the West German state.
Source: Mária Schmidt’s article titled “One can always sink further”
What sent Schmidt into a rage was the fact that “the Bavarian” dared to set conditions for Fidesz’s continued participation in the affairs of EPP. Of the three demands Weber delivered to Orbán in Budapest, what upset Schmidt most was his “interference” in the controversy over Central European University. Neither Bavaria nor Germany, nor for that matter the Union, has anything to do with the case, which is “the private business of a Hungarian-American citizen.” How does this German politician have the gall “to patronize the United States” by offering to be the middleman between Washington and Budapest? After all, it is the United States whose troops have been stationed in Germany for the last 70 years, not the other way around.
The other prospect that makes Schmidt apoplectic is Weber’s suggestion that “parties critical of the European Union shouldn’t receive any money from the EU treasury.” Of course, readers of Hungarian Spectrum know full well that the point of contention was not parties critical of the EU but governments that stray from the rule of law and European values as stated in the EU constitution. Her argument, defending Hungary’s right to the billions of euros, is based on, I suspect, a willful misinterpretation of facts. “What kind of a democracy is this? Whose money is the Union’s? Until now I thought that this money comes from the payments of European citizens, and now we suddenly discover that we are talking about the pocket money of Mr. Weber and others like him who give whenever and under whatever conditions they feel like it.” A unique interpretation of the convergence program, which has allowed Viktor Orbán’s autocratic regime to bloom economically, even though it has done its best to divide or even perhaps destroy the European Union. Schmidt hopes that Weber’s aspiration to become the president of the European Commission will be dashed.
It is curious that at the same time that Schmidt’s vitriolic articles appear on a government blog the Hungarian government is trying to appease German politicians both in Berlin and in Munich so as to reestablish earlier close ties between the two countries. It is not a coincidence that the prize Schmidt received in 2017 is given out by the German Business Club, which has very close connections to prominent members of the Orbán government. German firms are the largest investors in Hungary, and therefore good relations between the government and the German business leaders are vital for both parties. The foreign-owned automotive industry accounts for 18% of Hungary’s total industrial production, 10% of its GDP, and 25% of its exports.
Courting German automakers is one of the Orbán government’s priorities. An article that appeared in Élet és Irodalom a few days ago reported that, while the Slovak government’s financial support for foreign investments is 35%, the Hungarians are ready to go as high as 50%. The BMW factory that will be built soon will apparently receive 19.4 billion forints in subsidies, which was considerably more attractive than the Slovak offer. In addition, another 135 billion forints will be spent on improvements to the infrastructure in and around the new factory. Given the size of the subsidies, the Hungarian state will in effect be paying the wages of all the employees at the BMW plant for the first four or five years. According to these sources, Orbán feels safe under the protective umbrella of German business interests.
Although German companies will undoubtedly continue to invest in Hungary even if relations between the two governments are strained, their investments would be more secure if relations improved. Mária Schmidt’s attacks on Germany and German politicians certainly don’t help that cause.