John Lukacs provided a foreword to Sir Bryan Cartledge’s The Will to Survive: A History of Hungary, which provides a comprehensive overview of the history of Hungary. The foreword starts: “It is difficult for an outsider to write the history of a nation, especially if the language of that nation is special and its history is an endless series of battles for self-defence and independence.” And how right he is. On 2 October 2016, three and a half million of the nation’s registered voters proved that they feel responsible for their country’s destiny and that self-defence can and should be given a voice in the 21st Century as well. However, it is indisputable that four and a half million citizens did not participate in the referendum. Almost four and a half million people did not accept responsibility for their nation. They acted like outsiders. I am afraid that our outsider brethren might not understand, or don’t want to understand, what the essence of democracy is. They don’t understand that the highest and most direct degree of democracy is the referendum, which provides everyone who is registered to vote an opportunity to decide what kind of future they want. On 2 October, voters could choose between yes and no; they could also choose to invalidate their ballots. But to not participate is a sin. Those who didn’t go vote should no longer expect the state to build roads, maintain schools, pay pensions, provide protection from terrorists, serve justice against criminals, or perform any public services. We not only have rights towards the state; we also have obligations. And if someone doesn’t acknowledge this fact, they shouldn’t voice their rights, either. Our obligation in this difficult, unprecedented situation was to tell the state what we expect from it and from the representatives of the state. After 3 October, those who didn’t vote lost their moral basis to voice their opinions regarding or to question any state measures, or lack thereof, pertaining to migration. I believe that four and a half million registered voters are sadly not interested in their own country and irresponsibly view the nation as actual outsiders. Of course the high number of invalid votes doesn’t exactly tell of having a feeling of responsibility, either. Maybe it was simply fun to deface the ballot. However, we know their intent was obviously to make the referendum unsuccessful. But at least they took the trouble of going to the voting booths. But yes, the outsider thinking and the bad intent towards the government melted together and the referendum ended up being legally invalid and unsuccessful. And yet, the decision that was made could be revolutionary in the history of the EU. It is revolutionary, despite the repugnance shown in Hungary and by all those EU leaders. It might even help better the Union. After all, we are members of the EU, and we are here to stay. Anyhow, it will be crucial regarding migration, since it upsets the notion for introducing the crazy, misanthropic, compulsory quota. Yes, Hungary was again forced to take steps in its self-defence, with which it is protecting not only itself, but all of Europe, just like it did so many times over the course of its history. And the outsiders don’t understand what that strength is in this little country, in one third of its population. When Hungary has been on the edge of ruin and trampled upon so many times, where does that strength come from? If we look back at just the past one hundred years: we have suffered through the Treaty of Trianon, through Soviet and communist oppression, through privatization, and now the quota. The outsiders both inside and outside our country’s borders don’t understand the basis of self-defence. They don’t understand, or they never experienced the true nature of communism; or, to the contrary, they experienced it first-hand are still reaping its benefits. Either they didn’t live through the 150 or 45 year oppression of foreign powers, peoples, and cultures, or they did but yearn for that 45-year period in history. But these people still remember the horridness of co-tenancy. The type of co-tenancy where the families of strangers were forced to move into the apartments of the bourgeois and to use the same bathrooms and kitchens. They remember co-tenancy, where tens of thousands of intellectual families were broken up and ruined by forceful relocations, only to be ousted by the original owner and to have their valuables, which they had worked for, taken away by the people forced to live with them. Let’s not forget that some people still live in these types of villas, and now they urged others not to participate in the referendum. Well it is these people that I refer to as outsiders within the country: they will never understand the spirit and will to survive in Hungarians who are not outsiders. Those people who quickly organized the migrant move from Belgrade towards the Hungarian border after the referendum are also outsiders. Information has it that the No Borders organisation is behind this new wave of people, which is sure to result in yet more controversy. The founder of this organisation was once a Hungarian, and now he lives is Australia. Who knows how many people there are both within and outside our borders who have a material, moral, or political interest in seeing Hungary’s policy of protecting the nation and Europe fail. But it won’t. Because patriotism, protection of the nation, legality, the love of order, and actual humanitarianism will overcome all outsiderism driven by other factors. So it might be difficult for an outsider to write a history of Hungary, but we will no longer allow outsiders to define the country’s history. We have had enough of co-tenancies forced upon us by outside powers. Hungary will never again have a communist attitude, despite the endeavours of any hopeful outsiders. And have no doubt, globalism-touting liberalism and communism feed from the same source. Believers in these concepts are forced to be outsiders when they face the notions of nation states, national identity, and the protection of the nation. Too bad. Hungary is a beautiful country. We have to protect it. Thank you to those who thought so on 2 October.
Izabella Bencze
CÖF founder