Hungarian society has become deeply divided over political opinions in recent years, and the space for voicing disagreement with the governing Fidesz-KDNP coalition’s policies has only continued to shrink. It is therefore no surprise that for the past two weeks, many opponents saw Viktor Orbán’s daily election rallies as an opportunity to finally convey their opinions directly to the man at the top of the system. Those not satisfied with Fidesz’s sixteen-year rule have been showing up in droves wherever he goes throughout the country. However – as our reporters, who have been regularly attending Orbán’s rallies have observed – Fidesz prepared with a carefully choreographed method for stifling their voices.
In early March, when Viktor Orbán first announced that he would be holding election rallies throughout the country, which will be open to “all those who consider the peace and security of Hungary important”, many found this hard to imagine.
And with good reason. Ever since Fidesz came to power for the second time in 2010, the party’s campaign events have not been open to the public. Rather than being held in open squares where anyone could freely attend, they were organized in a closed space, with a carefully curated list of attendees selected from among the party’s faithful local supporters. And even when occasionally, on a national holiday, the Prime Minister would venture out to give a speech in a public space, the area would be cordoned off, with only select individuals allowed in – while the independent press was kept out and forced to report from behind the cordons.
In light of this precedent, it was hard to imagine that things would be done differently this time around. And indeed, what our reporters have witnessed is that to the casual observer, it may seem like anyone is welcome to attend Orbán’s meetings. However, those who dare to express an opinion which differs from Orbán’s are sure to be obstructed in various ways and limited in doing so.
Over the past two weeks we have observed a well-coordinated team of several people who are regularly present in or around the crowd and whose sole purpose is to react swiftly whenever a dissenting opinion is expressed, whether by chanting “Filthy Fidesz!” or by holding up a banner with critical content. Many of these men have hats or hoodies on, and each member has a clearly defined role: some are directing the chorus of pro-Fidesz chants (which start up as soon as an anti-Fidesz chant begins), others hold up signs expressing support for Fidesz or mocking the Tisza party, while a third group is tasked with surrounding (or standing in front of) protesters. The goal is very obviously to silence and intimidate those who wish to voice dissent – which they are, by the way, entitled to doing in an open forum.
The group initially consisted of barely more than two dozen people, but by the end of the second week of Orbán’s open-air campaigning, their number increased significantly, and they started doing more than preventing the chanting or the holding up of banners. In Veszprém they ripped a banner from the hands of the protesters, while last Friday in Győr, they blocked an entire street leading to the square where Orbán was to speak – the group even used physical force to prevent the protesters from moving freely, and demanded that a journalist show his ID before being allowed to pass through.
Reacting to this, the mayor of Győr, Bence Pintér sent a letter to the Minister of Interior, Sándor Pintér (no relation to the mayor) asking, among others: Why didn’t the police intervene when these men used force against locals? Why was there no response from the police when citizens’ called the emergency number? What authorization did these individuals have to request locals to show their IDs? If they are not part of law enforcement, why were they allowed to have pepper spray with them at a mass gathering? Until publication, the mayor has not reported having received a response.
The most heated exchange between the two groups took place over the weekend in the town of Pécel. On several occasions, the men supporting the Fidesz rally ripped the banners out of the hands of protesters and violently pushed them around. One of them, a former police officer, was forced to the ground along with his companion when they held up a banner with an anti-Fidesz message. Although local police were not present, the two men later filed charges for organized disorderly conduct and on Monday, the Gödöllő Police Department announced that they have initiated criminal proceedings against unknown perpetrators.
Telex was able to identify the key leaders of this team, who are there at every single rally of Orbán’s and we have uncovered some interesting connections between them and the governing party.
One of them is a former competitive wrestler, Adolf Bazsó, whose best result was a silver medal at the U20 European Championship in 2022. According to our observations, his most important task is to direct his team to the loudest protesters and ensure they are surrounded and intimidated as soon as possible.
Another individual, Bertalan Gremsberger also used to wrestle in the same club as Bazsó. In recent years, however, he has appeared in positions of leadership in a number of government-affiliated companies. Most recently, he has attended various pro-Fidesz events in the company of Gábor Kubatov, the party director of Fidesz. At Orbán’s rally’s, Gremsberger spends most of his time keeping an eye on the protesters, (he seems to be) directing people on the phone, but he has also stepped in to chant pro-Fidesz slogans or to rip banners out of protester’s hands.
Zsolt Beregszászi is also one of those we have regularly seen at the rallies. He is usually a member of the chanting team, but we have also observed him direct a group of men to position themselves right in front of a group of loud protesters. When he isn’t here, he works as Ministerial Commissioner at the Information Center of the Ministry of Construction and Transport.
A former kayaker, Gergő Havasi is another person we were able to identify. He is a reserve platoon leader in the Hungarian Defense Forces and has posed for a photo with Viktor Orbán and with the Minister of Defense before.
We tried to interview all four of them, but they mostly refused to speak with us. Those who did, were adamant that they do not work for anyone and insisted that they attended the rallies as private individuals, simply because they wished to express their support for Viktor Orbán. Still, at the rally held the day after the publication of our article identifying these men and their activities, a different scenario was used. Instead of the previously seen groups of men, it was now members of the official security team of the event in clearly marked uniforms who stood in front of the protesters, and the “choir” tasked with outchanting them was nowhere to be seen either. At the same time, there were far fewer protesters present than before, which could probably be partly be attributed to Péter Magyar urging his supporters to stay away from Orbán’s rallies, because it is clear that “they are trying to stir up trouble, so they can use it to influence the election”.
Losing his cool
Naturally, all of this going on not too far from the stage where he is speaking, isn’t lost on Orbán. Since the first stop of his rallying around the country, he has made sure to briefly address “those who are not with us”, encouraging them – much like a kind grandpa would – to think twice about what they want the future of the country to look like.
In Győr, however, he unexpectedly lost his cool and changed his tone. He described the protesters as “people of anger, hatred, and destruction” and added that Fidesz and their supporters, on the other hand, are “people of love and togetherness”, and said: “Let us be proud that we believe in the power of love and togetherness”. Then, his calm demeanor gone, he angrily gestured and shouted out to “the Tisza supporters out there”, saying: “Go ahead and keep whistling back there, dear Tisza supporters, just go ahead and whistle! You’re supporting the Ukrainians instead of standing with the Hungarians. You want a pro-Ukrainian government and you want to take the Hungarians' money to Ukraine. That’s the truth!”
Many saw the Prime Minister’s unusual quipping at those who disagree with him as a mistake. As political analyst Gábor Török pointed out: “This is not the "safe choice" or the "calm strength" or the "strategic calm", nor does it match the image of the "Prime Minister of Hungary" that has been displayed on billboards and carefully cultivated for years.”
The leader of the opposition, Péter Magyar reacted to Orbán’s outburst by saying: “Viktor Orbán has lost control. No one wants a pro-Ukrainian government; we all just want a functioning country. A country where the Hungarian state protects its citizens, protects children, and prosecutes criminals. That is all the country wants.”
As for Orbán, when confronted about the repeated acts of violence committed by the men obstructing protesters at his rallies, he simply said: “The source of all violence at these events is the Tisza Party”.
Despite Magyar’s call to his supporters to steer clear from Orbán’s rallies, some did show up at Fidesz’s event on Monday, albeit in much smaller numbers than before. The “obstructors”, who enjoy good connections to Fidesz were back as well, and only time will tell how far the conflict of the two camps will go in the 12 days left before the elections.
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