Can Momentum take on Orbán?
The grassroots movement Momentum, which gathered 266,000 signatures for a referendum on Budapest hosting the Olympics in 2024 under the motto "NOlympics", is taking steps to establish itself as a system-critical party in Hungary. Some media are optimistic that Momentum has the potential to move the country forward. Pro-government media, on the other hand, describe it as a destructive force.
Next project: informants' files
The civic movement Momentum should seize the moment and press ahead with its new initiative aimed at having the files kept on informers under the communist regime made public, Magyar Nemzet urges:
“Shedding light on the dark sides of the communist past would be very much in the nation's interest. Basically the only people who could have anything against it would be former informants and their minions. If Fidesz once again puts its propaganda machinery to work to stop the disclosure of the files, it will need to come up with a good explanation for doing so. But that won't be easy for the governing party's top cadres, because in fact there are no good arguments against facing up to the past. ... So making the secret police files public is a big opportunity for Momentum to make its political breakthrough.”
An arrogant, anti-Hungarian crowd!
The members of Momentum are hindering the interests of their country, Heti Válasz writes, backing the government's stance vis-à-vis the new movement:
“With their colourful bags slung over their shoulders they want to convey the message that they are different, superior, better than the rest of society. They want to change the world and fight for democracy. What they haven't managed to do, however, is have girls look like girls; you can only more or less tell what sex they are by their 'gender hair'. … They are troublemakers, paid agents, collaborators trying to seduce those who know very little about their home country and on top of that are misguided. Let's be frank about what these people really are: ignorant dimwits who are being instrumentalised against their own nation.”
New movement could shake up politics in Hungary
The Momentum movement has the potential to become a political force to be reckoned with, commentator Róbert Puzsér writes in the weekly Nevem Senki:
“Of course the old political forces will try to sully this new formation. ... The most positive aspect about the Momentum movement is that it takes a pragmatic approach to the country's problems and is immune to the ideologies of the 20th century. It stands for a new political identity that is very critical of the current system. Eight years after the founding of the green party LMP, a movement has emerged at the centre of the political spectrum that not only embodies the aspirations of a young generation, but also represents a new political culture. It would be a pity if it were caught up in the maelstrom of frustration, baseness and hatred of the past twenty years.”
Lies from the start
The pro-government daily Magyar Idők counters that the new civil movement has already resorted to dubious tactics in its NOlympics campaign:
“It's already clear that its entire policy will be built on mean lies given that its first political act was already a lie. It shamelessly and vociferously claims that the 266,000 people who signed the petition were simply saying they wanted a referendum. ... So let's repeat the question posed by Momentum: 'Do you want Budapest to withdraw its bid for the Olympic Games and Paralympics in 2024?' … Does this movement really want to enter the political arena with lies?”