Rastislav Káčer: Hungary is becoming a sick political entity in the European Union

Rastislav Káčer, who served as Slovakia's ambassador in Budapest for five years and headed the Foreign Ministry in Slovakia from September 2022 to May 2023, has expressed sharp criticism of the Orbán government. In an interview with Új Szó, Káčer said that although he was labelled a Hungarophobe after an interview in February in which he said that if Russia invaded Ukraine, Hungary would make territorial claims against Slovakia, he has no problem with Hungarians, especially given his Hungarian ancestry.

"If I were a Hungarophobe, I would hate my own ancestors, which would not be normal. (...) I spent five years in Budapest, and since then, and even before that, I have actively followed the policies of the Hungarian government, which are very disturbing. Viktor Orbán has gradually moved from a liberal position to a national radical position. (...) But we diplomats told him that if he embraced these views, these nationalist, irredentist, revisionist ideas, he would turn himself into Jobbik (Hungarian far-right party)-TN) And that did indeed happen. The last time I attended a Fidesz general assembly as a guest, I heard some terrible speeches. I felt as if I were at the NSDAP (Nationalsocialist German Workers' Party, Hitler's Nazi party -TN) congress in the 1930s. I heard speeches about God's chosen nation and how everyone was hurting the Hungarians, how they had suffered historical injustice. And when you live in Hungary, all you hear is how unjust Trianon was" Káčer said. (The Treaty of Trianon was a post-first World War peace treaty, as a result of which Hungary lost a significant portion of its territories and population to the neighbouring countries. – TN)

The politician then drew a parallel between Putin and Viktor Orbán. He said that Vladimir Putin did not start by lamenting the disintegration of the Soviet Union or the loss of Russian imperialist dominance, but he got there gradually. "Because if he wanted to keep his autocratic and oligarchic power, riddled with corruption, his only option was to create tension and the concept of an enemy.

This is exactly the path that Viktor Orbán has taken. He, too, has gradually built his image of the enemy. He talked about the fact that no one has good intentions towards the Hungarians and that Hungarians must fight for their survival surrounded by a sea of Germanic and Slavic people, where they live. This includes reviving the image of former greatness. This formula is very similar to Russia's, and it has reached motifs exactly like Putin's," Káčer said, and concluded: “He has switched to an increasingly authoritarian form of governance, and the country is riddled with corruption to an extent which is unacceptable in the civilised world.”

The Slovakian politician said that one can't help but wonder why Orbán is collaborating so intensively with Putin, if he has no territorial claims: "why is it that he is investing millions of euros in the integration of Hungarians in neighbouring countries as part of his national policy? So there are many warning signs."

Káčer sees the threat of territorial claims as relevant: "Hungary is becoming a sick political element in the European Union that the others cannot deal with". The former ambassador believes Slovakia cannot ignore Viktor Orbán's behaviour. In the interview, he also spoke about his views on Hungarians in Slovakia and his opinion on dual citizenship.