Jobbik

The Movement for a Better Hungary ( hu, Jobbik Magyarországért Mozgalom), commonly known as Jobbik (), is a conservative political party in Hungary.

Originating with radical and nationalist roots, at its beginnings, the party described itself as "a principled, conservative and radically patriotic Christian party", whose "fundamental purpose" is the protection of "Hungarian values and interests." In 2014, the party was described as an "anti-Semitic organization" by ''The Independent'' and a "neo-Nazi party" by the president of the European Jewish Congress. From 2015 to 2020, the party started to re-define itself as a more moderate conservative people's party and changed the controversial elements of its communication, culminating with its new declaration of principles now defining itself as a centre-right, pro-European party with some residual moderated nationalist tendencies (the position previously occupied by Fidesz). According to the party's "Declaration of Principles", Jobbik will "always focus on the interests of Hungary and the Hungarian people instead of a political group or an ideology. On the other hand, obbikreject hatemongering and extreme political views that are contrary to Christian values and ethics."

After the Hungarian parliamentary elections on 8 April 2018, the party polled 1,092,806 votes, securing 19.06% of the total, making it Hungary's second-largest party in the National Assembly.

Name

The Movement for a Better Hungary more commonly goes under its abbreviated name Jobbik, which is in fact a play on words. The word ''jobb'' in Hungarian has two meanings, the adjective for "better" and the direction "right". Consequently, the comparative form ''Jobbik'' means both "better choice" and "more to the right". This is somewhat similar to the English phrase "right choice", which could mean both "a choice on the right side of the political spectrum" and "a correct choice". In fact, origally it was a pun, JOBBIK is the short form for ''JOBBoldali Ifjúsági Közösség'' (English: ''Right-wing Youth Community'').

Platform and ideology

On 30 June 2020, Péter Jakab the president of Jobbik and Koloman Brenner member of the strategic group of the party introduced a new declaration of principles of the party, replacing its previous hardline nationalist-populist, Eurosceptic, anti-globalist, and irredentist one. The party redefined itself as a Christian, conservative, centre-right, socially sensitive people's party in the document. The document defines Jobbik as the only people's party in Hungary, and stated that "Jobbik is an independent political movement that strictly observes its own values but is willing to cooperate with other political forces to restore democracy and the rule of law in Hungary." Since its adoption of more moderate policies, Jobbik has been described as centrist, centre-right and right-wing. It also stated its support for agrarianism.

Currently, the party describes itself as a modern conservative people's party. A 28 February 2020 opinion poll by IDEA for Euronews was analyzed by leading political scientist Balázs Böcskei. He interpreted that from a former nationalist party, Jobbik has completed its transformation into a moderate people's party and its voting base has been changed, and now competes for a predominantly moderate conservative pro-EU constituency.

Since 2014, the party has not used the "radical right-wing" term to define itself, stating that it aims to represent all Hungarian people, not exclusively the right-wing of the political spectrum. According to Gábor Vona, the president of Jobbik, after 2014 the party has grown out of its "adolescence" and reached its adulthood. The party has significantly changed its views on the European Union, while in internal politics the party has started to emphasize opening towards the different groups of the Hungarian society. At the same time, Vona distanced the party from "wrong statements" that it had made in the past.

Historical

Prior to 2020, Jobbik was described by media and academics as right-wing and far-right. Earlier, the party often defined itself as "a principled, conservative and radically patriotic Christian party", whose "fundamental purpose" was the protection of "Hungarian values and interests". Since then, Jobbik has implemented major changes in its program and policies, due to its growing popularity and broadening supporter groups. Earlier Jobbik's ideology has been described by political scholars as right-wing populist, whose strategy "relies on a combination of ethno-nationalism with anti-elitist populist rhetoric and a radical critique of existing political institutions". For its part, Jobbik rejected the common classification of the political spectrum in left and right, and has been described as a catch-all party. The party sees itself as patriotic. The party has always rejected the term 'far-right', and instead labeled itself as ' radical right-wing'. It has also criticised media companies for labelling them as 'far-right' and has threatened to take action towards those who do. In 2014, the Supreme Court of Hungary ruled that Jobbik cannot be labeled "far-right" in any domestic radio or television transmissions, as this would constitute an opinion because Jobbik has refused the 'far-right' label. It also supported socially conservative and nationalist positions.

At its beginnings, Jobbik described itself as rejecting "global capitalism" and the European Union, because they felt disappointed with the conditions of the Hungarian EU accession. While the party previously also opposed Zionism, the party's leader, Gábor Vona, stated in February 2017 that he has "never questioned Israel's existence" and that the party supports a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. In July 2018, the party also voted in the European Parliament in favour of greater security coordination with Israel. At some level the party adhered to Pan-Turanism, an ideology that asserts that Hungarians originate from the Ural–Altaic race,Ghosh, Palash (December 06 2013)
Strange Bedfellows: Hungarian Far-Right Jobbik Party Embraces Muslim Nations, Seeks 'Eurasian' Ideal Of Statehood
''International Business Times''. Retrieved August 31, 2014Ungváry, Krisztián (5. February 2012)
Turanism: the 'new' ideology of the far right
" BZT Media Kft. Retrieved August 31, 2014 and supported Hungarian irredentism. Consequently, the party strongly supports closer ties with Turkey, with Vona criticizing the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt and praising Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as a "very strong leader".

Jobbik, according to recent remarks from the party, no longer regards ideological issues as a primary goal, but instead focuses on the elimination of social tensions and controversies as well as on the fight against the growing corruption in the public sphere and administration.

Modern conservatism

In the summer of 2016 Gábor Vona, the president of Jobbik, declared a new style of politics, called "modern conservatism" with the aim of moving beyond pointless debates between the right- and the left-wing and to fostering cooperation among Hungarians with different political backgrounds. According to Vona, the goal of "modern conservatism" is, to build a society that can, by its proactivity, be a basis for a more democratic political functioning. As a historical precedent, he referred to the ideals of István Széchenyi, who is considered one of the greatest statesmen of Hungarian history.

Relation to the European Union

Upon its formation, Jobbik had a strongly critical stance towards the European Union. The party regarded the accession of Hungary as a failure, and saw the EU as an organization that did not serve the interests of Hungarians. However, even in this period, the party did not refuse the idea of a radically reformed European confederation. After Brexit and the continuous debates on the future of the European Union, the party has reassessed its views on the EU and started to emphasize that by adequate policies and some EU reforms, the organization could be made advantageous for European nations. According to Jobbik, Hungary should join the Eurozone as soon as possible since it is a not a political but an economic question. At his press conference on 27 October 2017, the president of the party, Gábor Vona, said that if some conditions were fulfilled Jobbik could even support further deepening of the EU.

In December 2018, Jobbik presented its 2019 European Parliament election program, in which the party highlighted three topics of key importance: European cohesion, joint European solution on migration issues and centralized European action against fake news. According to the published program, Jobbik stands for Hungarian membership of the EU and advocates for a just union based on the principle of solidarity laid out by Robert Schuman and Konrad Adenauer.

Wage Union

Jobbik sees economic convergence and a pan-European wage union as important goals. Thus, a key element of the party's EU policy is the economic development of the eastern member states of the EU, thereby reducing the economic differences between East and West. The party believes that lack of development has led to corruption, and that both the EU and the governments of Central and Eastern Europe have turned a blind eye to the problem. Therefore, Jobbik played a leading role in the formation of the Wage Union European Citizens' Initiative, that started its work on 14 March 2017 with the participation of representatives from 8 Central European countries.

Economy

At its beginnings, Jobbik rejected globalised capitalism and the influence of foreign investors in Hungary. In the past, Jobbik has specifically opposed aggressive Israeli investment in Hungary and what it termed a selling-out of the country. On 4 May 2013, protesting against the World Jewish Congress's choice to locate their 2013 congress in Budapest, party chairman Gábor Vona said, "The Israeli conquerors, these investors, should look for another country in the world for themselves because Hungary is not for sale". This was in response to a highly-controversial speech by the Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres. On 10 October 2007, Peres said that "from such a small country as ours it is almost amazing, that we are buying up Manhattan, Hungary, Romania and Poland". This statement created a heated debate in Hungary and Israel was obliged to explain the controversial words several times.

According to the party's 2017 Manifesto, an innovative economic policy should be followed, whose goal is to find opportunities in the global economy. An increasingly-important point of Jobbik's economic policy is the creation of a more-competitive national economy that is able to provide higher wages. The party aims to support SMEs and a balanced development with multinational companies.

Public order

The party argued on its formation that the national police should be greatly strengthened and, along with the Fidesz, supports introducing a " three strikes law". However, political rivals of Jobbik claim that its connections with the ''Magyar Gárda'' militia (which is now banned) cast doubt on the party's commitment to peace and order in Hungarian society, and even within party ranks.

Jobbik have previously promised to restore the death penalty if they come to power.

Minority rights and demands for territorial autonomy for Hungarians outside of Hungary

Jobbik strongly promotes the welfare of the large Hungarian populations living outside Hungary as ethnic minorities. The party demands minority rights for these groups in accordance with Western European standards. Along with almost all current Hungarian political parties, Jobbik demands the reestablishment of "territorial autonomy" in the Székely Land of Romania, and desires to make Carpathian Ruthenia an independent Hungarian district on the model of South Tyrol. Jobbik is frequently accused of agitating for a return to pre-Treaty-of-Trianon borders. However, Jobbik has never suggested changing borders by force, and believes that the ultimate solution is territorial and cultural autonomy within a European Union framework of minority rights.

One fourth of ethnic Hungarians live outside the country. Many suffer discrimination because of their ethnicity, causing frequent diplomatic disputes between Hungary and its neighbors. Jobbik dedicates itself to supporting the cause of Hungarian minorities in adjoining countries, vocally defending their schools, churches and cultural values.

The party's 2009 election slogan "Hungary belongs to the Hungarians" (''Magyarország a Magyaroké!'') attracted much scrutiny. While some critics dismissed the slogan as a tautology, others considered it a call to bigotry and complained to the National Electoral Commission, which ruled it "unconstitutional" on the eve of the election.

On 11 March 2014, in response to a demonstration in Târgu Mureș, the Romanian president Traian Băsescu publicly called for a ban on Jobbik members from entering Romania.

Besides defending the rights of ethnic Hungarians living abroad, Jobbik actively supports the cultural autonomy and language rights of the autochthonous ethnic minorities living in Hungary.

The party has a pragmatic stance on cooperation among the Central European nations and states and, despite historical differences, strongly supports their common action within the EU. Jobbik leaders have called for action in the framework of the Wage Union European Citizens' Initiative.

History and development

Foundation

The group was first established in 2002 as the Right-Wing Christian Youth Community (''Jobboldali Ifjúsági Közösség – JOBBIK'') by a group of Catholic and Protestant university students. It was founded as a political party in October 2003, by Gabor Vona, the son of a
staunchly anti-Communist farming family.The Jobbik Party in Hungary: History and Background
" Human Rights First, December 2015.. The new party elected Dávid Kovács as president, serving until 2006. A key figure was Gergely Pongrátz who, in a speech to the founding conference, invoked the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.

Around Christmas 2003, Jobbik conducted a nationwide programme of erecting crosses, to remind Hungarians of the "true meaning" of the holiday. The move was criticized by several Christian intellectual groups.

Alliances

Even though the far-right Hungarian Justice and Life Party (MIÉP) and Jobbik had publicly quarreled, the parties formed an electoral alliance for the 2006 national elections, the MIÉP–Jobbik Third Way Alliance of Parties. The alliance sought to win votes from the major conservative Fidesz party.

However, the alliance won only 2.2% of the votes, and Jobbik largely withdrew from it. In 2009 the State Audit Office (ÁSZ) reported the alliance for grave breaches of accounting rules. Jobbik blamed MIÉP alone for the irregularities.

Jobbik fought the 2010 and 2014 general elections without political allies. Recently, some left-wing intellectuals suggested a coalition between the left-liberal parties and Jobbik to challenge the Fidesz government; however Jobbik rejected the idea to cooperate with parties which they call "20th century powers". Nevertheless, Gábor Vona said in an interview that "We will need several bridges ... to voters on the left, not to parties on the left. Jobbik offers a message, a program both to former leftist and former rightist voters."

Magyar Gárda and conflicts in the party

During the 2000s, public order was a key topic in Hungarian political life; especially after the 2006 lynching of a Hungarian teacher by Roma people in the Eastern Hungarian village of Olaszliszka. The case turned public attention to the failure of Roma integration and the inability of the Hungarian police to maintain law and order in the Hungarian countryside. The idea of setting up a "national guard", similar to the National Guard of the United States

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