Fencing off migrants and Europe – Populist nationalism in Hungary

According to the latest statistics, Hungary is the second country (following Greece) with the highest number of irregular border crossings, with more than 350,000 border crossings recorded last year. Nevertheless, all migrants leave/left the country in a few days – yet combating irregular migration has become the utmost priority for the Hungarian government that ended up being first in erecting barbed wire fences on the country’s borders and its PM Orban declaring that all terrorists are migrants. Nationalism has a long tradition in Hungary, having lost two-third of the country’s territory after WWI, and the current migration crisis provides solid ground for nationalist politics. This paper attempts to trace the creation of this new political discourse of populist nationalism that is anti-migrant, anti-Muslim, and anti-Europe. Using a systematic analysis of the official statements and documents of the Fidesz government and party officials, this paper demonstrates that Orban’s nationalist populist narrative stands for a new conception of national identity that mobilizes against the collapse of traditional national values and liberal rationalism embodied by EU institutions (Krastev 2007) and believes once basic human rights are provided for, national interests are above those of individuals or minorities. In this setting, the discursive construction and use of ‘otherness’ in the public discourse stand for the representations of migrants as a deviant groups of people, of a threatening ideology/religion, and of enemies of the nation, although Hungary is a transit or a source rather than a destination country for migration, except for the ethnic co-nationals of the neighboring countries. Similarly, this narrative challenges EU solidarity and commitment to Europeanization presenting the problematique of migration as a major challenge for the security of both the national and political community. Europe and its proposed common governance system for migration only exacerbate this threat, making the EU become ‘the other’, against what the national identity must be protected.