The other day, I received a letter in my inbox, attempting to set me straight. He also sent along for my edification the letter that Hungarian Foreign Minister János Martonyi penned to Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Member States of the European Union.
I’m sure I’m not alone. The Fidesz government of Hungary is on a flat-out PR blitz, trying desperately to gain sympathy as international opinion solidifies against them. Because all of these communications repeat more or less the same talking points and are blanketing inboxes, editorial pages and diplomatic meetings across Europe and North America, I’ll respond to the Fidesz public relations offensive here by explaining what their government’s laws actually say. Fidesz officials are hiding behind Hungarian, which is a small and difficult (yet beautiful) language, so that outsiders are at a disadvantage in responding to their assertions of “fact.”
Unfortunately for them, however, I’ve lived in Hungary for years, worked in the Hungarian court system, studied Hungarian law for decades and can find my way around Hungarian legalese. That is why they take me seriously enough to attack. Since I started writing about Hungary, I have received mountains of hate mail, been ambushed by non-academic criticism in academic settings and gotten death threats to the point where I need security on my trips back to Budapest. But I’m not taking it personally. I just happen to stand in the way of what Fidesz wants. They are ruthless and relentless – but not stupid.
The New York Times (opinion pages)
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