The Times - UK (2022-04-05)

34 Tuesday April 5 2022 | the times

Wo r l d

Displaying a Nazi flag or memorabilia
bearing swastikas will be criminalised
in Australia’s most populous state.
The government of New South
Wales, based in Sydney, will introduce
legislation to ban the symbols amid
reports of surging right-wing activity
within Australia. The state’s attorney
general, Mark Speakman, said the gov-
ernment would introduce a bill to crim-
inalise public displays of Nazi symbols.
It is expected to outlaw broadcasting
and communicating Nazi symbols
through social media and other elec-
tronic methods, wearing clothes brand-

Viktor Orban has goaded the European
Union by proclaiming that his brand of
illiberal, conservative nationalism is
the future for the continent after win-
ning a fourth consecutive term in office.
The Hungarian prime minister, 58,
won another two-thirds majority,
meaning there are no constitutional
barriers to building what he describes
as an “illiberal democracy”.
“The future will be a national renaiss-
ance,” he told the country’s Hir TV
yesterday. “Patriotism does not belong
to the past but to the future. Christian-
ity is not a thing of the past. A conserva-
tive policy of civilisation is not the past
but the future.
“The big message is what happened
here in Hungary today is for the
whole European community. Many
will hear it and we will give hope to
many people.”
President Putin of Russia congrat-
ulated Orban in a move that will con-
firm unease in Hungary, including
among ruling circles, and elsewhere in
Europe over the closeness of their
relationship.
“The head of the Russian state ex-
pressed confidence that, despite
the difficult international situa-
tion, the further development of
bilateral ties of partnership fully
meets the interests of the peo-
ples of Russia and Hungary,” a
Kremlin statement said.
The Hungarian leader’s
triumphant message was
echoed by right-wing
populist leaders across
Europe, including Ma-
rine Le Pen, whose
National Rally party
is threatening to
unseat President
Macron of France.
“Congratulations
to Viktor Orban on his
overwhelming victory

in the Hungarian parliamentary elec-

tions. If the people vote, the people

win,” she tweeted.

Matteo Salvini, leader of the right-

wing Italian Lega which is part of Italy’s

technocratic coalition, hailed Orban

for beating “left-wing fanatics who

want to eradicate the values of family,

security, merit, development, solidarity,

sovereignty and freedom.

“You still won because of what the

others lack: the love and support of the

people,” Salvini said.

Key to the election, wrong-footing all

predictions, was Orban’s decision to dis-

tance Hungary from the rest of Europe’s

support for Ukraine against Russia, par-

ticularly over his refusal to allow arms

shipments across Hungarian territory.

Speaking to supporters late on Sun-

day, Orban set the tone for his new gov-

ernment by including President Zelen-

sky in his list of foreign enemies, after

stinging criticism from Kyiv at the

height of the campaign. “We never

had so many opponents,” he said.

“Brussels bureaucrats, the inter-

national mainstream media and

the Ukrainian president.”

He was accused by Zelensky,

the Hungarian opposition and

other European governments of

blocking sanctions, causing ten-

sions with his staunchest con-

servative European ally, Poland.

Signalling that their Euro-

sceptic alliance was

Viktor Orban

celebrates winning

a fourth term

Orban takes aim at

Brussels liberalism

after poll landslide

It seems that even for the richest man in

the world, if your name’s not on the list,

you’re still not coming in.

Elon Musk dived into Berlin’s fetish

and music scene at the weekend in a

club crawl that ended in front of the

bouncers at a temple to techno, fuelling

speculation that he’d been refused.

After being spotted on Friday enjoy-

ing the KitKatClub’s self-advertised

“world-class perversion” — dress code

latex, leather, lingerie or nothing, and

no photographs inside, please — the

50-year-old tech-bro failed to make it

into the Berghain the following night.

Er, Elon who?

Germany

David Crossland Berlin

Swastikas banned amid far-right surge in Australia

Chilled to imperfection Winegrowers warm themselves beside fields ablaze with

alive and well, Mateusz Morawiecki,

the Polish prime minister, said that Ber-

lin, not Budapest, was the problem on

sanctions against Russia.

“This is the fourth such win and we

have to respect democratic elections.

It’s Germany that is the main roadblock

on sanctions. Hungary is for the sanc-

tions,” he said.

Hungary is reluctant to jeopardise a

close economic relationship with, and

dependency on, Russia but has not sig-

nificantly held back sanctions as long

as gas and oil imports are not banned.

Orban’s Fidesz party won the Hunga-

rian election with 53 per cent of the vote

which has translated, via a complicated

electoral system, into 68 per cent of the

seats, 135 MPs, in Hungary’s 199-

member parliament.

Orban’s rule of Hungary has been

unassailable since his first victory in

2010, repeated with large parliament-

ary majorities in 2014 and 2018.

Hungary has clashed with the EU

over judicial independence, academic

freedom, refugees and gay rights. After

one Brussels confrontation last sum-

mer, Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime min-

ister, said Hungary needed to be

brought “to its knees” or it would have

“no business being in the EU any more”.

The international hostility has been

used by Orban to portray himself as

standing alone against foreign powers

attempting to impose an alien, western,

liberal way of life on Hungarians.

Peter Marki-Zay, 49, leader of Hun-

gary’s United opposition, a coalition of

six sometimes fractious parties ranging

from the left to far right, blamed the

scale of his defeat on an unfair electoral

system and ignorant or misled voters.

The pro-EU Catholic conservative

said Orban’s “propaganda machine”,

particularly the state-owned MTV

broadcaster, had presented Fidesz as

the only defence against “all kinds of

enemies”, including Brussels.

“This result shows that after 12 years

of brainwashing Orban can win any

election in this country,” he said.

Hungarian election results

Fidesz-KDNP

135 seats

United for Hungary

56 seats

Source: National Election Commission

Hungary
Bruno Waterfield Budapest

Australia
Bernard Lagan Sydney

ed with the symbols, displaying signs or

symbols in a way that is observable by

the public, and distribution of written

or visual material to the public.

The proposed legislation would

introduce a maximum penalty of a

A$550 (£314) fine and/or imprisonment

for six months for displaying a Nazi

symbol, through a public act. The

swastika is currently banned in some

other countries, including Germany,

Austria, France, and parts of Canada.

Victoria, Australia’s second most

populous state, is also in the process of

banning Nazi symbols, with new laws

expected to be introduced into the state

parliament this year.

The NSW bill includes exceptions for

the use of Nazi symbols for historical,

artistic, scientific, or educational pur-

poses, and the display of swastikas in

connection with Hinduism, Buddhism,

or Jainism — which predates the sym-

bol’s adoption by Nazi Germany.

The announcement comes after a

NSW parliamentary inquiry in Februa-

ry unanimously recommended a ban

on the public display of Nazi symbols. A

majority of Australians said they

wanted the Nazi swastika banned, ac-

cording to a survey undertaken last

year by the Social Research Centre.

Australia has one of the highest num-

ber of Holocaust survivors in the world

per capita, according to the Australian

Associated Press. Last year, Victoria be-

came the first Australia state or territo-

ry to advance legislation outlawing Na-

zi symbols.

In February, the head of Australia’s

domestic security agency, ASIO,

warned that more “angry and alienated

Australians” could turn to violence

after being exposed to “an echo cham-

ber” of extremist messaging, misinfor-

mation and conspiracy theories during

the coronavirus pandemic.

A Labor MP, Walt Secord, who intro-

duced a bill and has been campaigning

for two years on the issue, welcomed

the attorney general’s announcement.

“Sadly, we are seeing a surge in far

right-wing activity in Australia and

overseas,” Secord said on Monday.