Street riots in 2006 following the leak of a speech by then Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany telling his party members that they had lied about public finances, the growing popularity of the radicals and attacks against the Roma minority have dented Hungary's image as a liberal country open to reform, Gereon Schuch, a researcher for the German Council of Foreign Relations (DGAP) told the paper.
The stand-off between the two main political camps makes problem-solving - handling the economic crisis, implementing social reform, integrating minorities and maintaining good bilateral relations - next to impossible, Schuch said.
A new Fidesz government, with a comfortable majority in parliament and broad social support, presents not only an opportunity but a responsibility, too. Fiscal consolidation must continue and energy should not be wasted on political battles, he said.
Michael Schafir, a political scientist at Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj Napoca, said that all the efforts of Hungary's Socialist governments to improve Hungary's reputation after the "catastrophic heritage" from the 1998-2002 Orban cabinet had been made in vain due to extremist and racist trends over the past year and a half. The Socialists have exacerbated problems due to corruption, a cause which the radical nationalists have taken up to powerful effect, he added.
Slovak political analyst Miroslav Kusy said Hungary's two main political camps are both responsible for Hungary's declining reputation. The Socialists maintained irresponsible spending that resulted in high indebtedness, while Fidesz torpedoed all reform efforts of the government.
Despite having a Socialist government in both Slovakia and Hungary over the past four years, bilateral relations worsened, Kusy noted.
"Viktor Orban ... will have to be far more empathetic and pursue more careful political relations with neighbouring states than he has promised so far. At home, he will have to tackle the extremists because that's the only way to maintain the stability of central Europe," Kusy said.
politics.hu
