February 7th, 2018
As the government plans to table the so-called ‘Stop Soros’ package of anti-asylum-seeker bills, a conservative critic of the government thinks that the anti-immigrant rhetoric of Fidesz may alienate even some of those voters who otherwise agree with the governing party’s migration policies.
On Monday, Magyar Idők, the leading pro-government daily reported that the government would table the so-called Stop Soros bills (see BudaPost January 20) within two weeks.
In Válasz Barna Borbás concedes that the government has won the dispute over migration, but dismisses its current anti-Soros rhetoric as unserious. He admits that the government’s policy line has been broadly supported by the Hungarian public, and its core elements have been co-opted even by some of those who originally criticized them. The left-wing parties and George Soros himself have acknowledged the need for protecting the borders of Europe and Hungary from undocumented migrants, Borbás suggests. In light of all this, he finds the suggestion absurd that there are still important political actors that want to let waves of migrants into the country. This rhetoric, Borbás contends, may prove counterproductive. He speculates that the 7 per cent drop in support for Fidesz, measured recently by the liberal Medián polling institute, if true, must be due to growing discontent with the government’s anti-immigrant rhetoric.
Medián measured Fidesz at 37 per cent of all eligible voters (2 points down from November last year) and at 53 per cent of decided voters (down from 60 in November).
Tags: Fidesz, migration, Soros
