Hungary: the opposition as a security risk?
In Hungary, a leaked speech by parliamentary speaker László Kövér (Fidesz) to top national intelligence officials is causing a commotion. In the speech Kövér states that the greatest risk to national security is that the political class is so divided in its view of the state and the nation, and that part of the political class - the opposition - wants to pursue self-destructive policies. The latter sees itself branded as an enemy of the state.
Left trying to undermine Hungary's sovereignty
The opposition media may have deliberately misinterpreted the parliamentary speaker's words, but the opposition does indeed pose a security risk to the country, writes journalist Tamás Pilhál of the pro-government daily Magyar Nemzet:
“The parliamentary speaker sees this political situation in which two mutually exclusive concepts of the state and the nation compete for political power as a security risk. ... [That the opposition itself is a danger,] he did not actually say. But I'll come out and say it anyway: Hungary's left poses a risk to national security. ... It wants to deprive Hungary of the little sovereignty it still has and to force us into Brussels' new Soviet Union.”
An attack on the post-transition consensus
Válasz Online finds the message of the speech clear - and quite sad:
“The text of the speech leaves no doubt that Kövér considers the opposition a security risk. ... It is infinitely sad to hear this, because László Kövér is tearing apart the post-transition consensus that he himself helped to create. This consensus was on the dissolution of Department III/III of the state security organs, which had been monitoring Hungarian citizens who could pose a threat to the security of those in power, but not to the security of the nation. In return, the other departments were allowed to continue their work - but without interfering in the domestic policy games.”