Prime Minister of Hungary Victor UrbanThe leader of the anti-liberal current in the European Union, will today (Sunday) try to win another term in a dramatic election in front of a joint list of the opposition, which are taking place in the shadow of the war in neighboring Ukraine.
Recent polls suggest a tie between Urban’s Fides party, which has ruled the country since 2010, and the United bloc of all major opposition lists led by Peter Markie-ZaiThe mayor of Hodamzwasharai and a conservative, who was elected in the primaries last October.
However, estimates are that Urban, the oldest prime minister in the EU, is expected to retain his seat. Thanks to the absolute majority in parliament, the ruling party has taken a series of moves designed to help it vote – drawing out the boundaries of constituencies, voting outside the constituency and voting abroad in favor of Fides supporters.
Today, there will also be a referendum on the law, which is intended to ban publications for LGBT people, in order to encourage conservative supporters to go to the polls.
The government’s complete control of the media has also given Urban an overwhelming advantage, with the opposition and the EU blaming it for not being a fair election. Last week, burnt ballots were also discovered, many of which marked a vote for the opposition, which was quick to accuse them of attempted fraud.
The war in Ukraine has become the focus of the campaign in recent weeks. Urban, who is considered close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, joined the condemnation and opened the borders to refugees from Ukraine, but declared that he refuses to allow arms transfers to Ukraine via Hungary and thwarts the union’s plan to boycott Russian gas and oil, which make up 85% of Hungarian consumption.
Over the weekend Urban warned his supporters that if his rivals won, they would jeopardize national security and drag Hungary into the conflict. “These elections are about peace or war,” he said, “the left is a significant risk to peace.”
On the other hand, the opposition condemned Urban for still trying to appease Putin and not fully joining the sanctions imposed on Russia. “We have only one choice – we must choose Europe instead of the East,” Markie-Zay declared. “Our moral duty is to give sympathy to any country whose freedom is taken from it and crushed with tyrants and missiles of a dictator.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zalansky did not hide his criticism of Urban either. “Look at the shoes and see how mass killing can happen again in the world today,” Zalansky challenged Urban at a meeting of EU leaders about ten days ago, referring to the famous monument on the banks of the Danube in Budapest in memory of hundreds of city Jews killed in the Holocaust when shot and thrown into the river.