State Secretary Zoltán Kovács said it is “highly dangerous” if organizations without democratic legitimacy have a decisive influence on political decision-making, referring to the activities of NGOs.
The state secretary for international communication and relations told a conference on a Nézőpont Institute 2021 study on international press reports about Hungary, that the Hungarian government was fighting against people who tried to make decisions without the authority to do so. He noted that the government won two-thirds majority three times in democratic elections and this could not be questioned by either NGOs, their media collaborators, or other opinion-makers. Kovács said that since 2010, no matter what the government did, the Hungarian left wing tarred the government, and the resulting effects could be felt on the international stage. He said the western European press had created a “monolithic” image of Hungary, and Hungary would have to create a framework in which to express its own position, adding that this endeavour was making progress internationally.
Meanwhile, referring to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Kovács accused Péter Márki-Zay, the united opposition’s prime ministerial candidate, of promoting a narrative created by the western European media regarding Hungary’s relations with Russia over the past 12 years. He insisted that Márki-Zay had made statements concerning the situation in Ukraine that “jeopardises Hungary’s international standing”. “Not only is he telling lies, he is also behaving with immeasurable irresponsibility,” he added.
Photo credit: Facebook/Kovács Zoltán