Hungary theater control plan triggers actor protests
December 9, 2019
Thousands of Hungarians, including actors and directors, have rallied in Budapest protesting against a government plan to wrest control from theaters, saying it would curb artistic freedom.
Image: Reuters/T. Kaszas
Advertisement
Thousands of Hungarians demonstrated in Budapest on Monday against a government plan to wrest control of theaters, saying that it would restrict artistic freedom in the country. Hungary's right-wing national government submitted the controversial draft bill to parliament on Monday. It proposes an overhaul of the financing and management of state-funded theaters.
If the bill is adopted, funding could be conditional on a state appointee having a say in selecting theater directors, Istvan Hollik, a government spokesperson, said on Monday.
The bill, which could be adopted on Wednesday, is significantly shorter and narrower in scope than government plans for much of the culture sector leaked last week that drew condemnation from across the cultural landscape.
The proposal came after a scandal involving a high-profile director rocked one of Budapest's most popular theaters. A senior official in Prime Minister Viktor Orban's ruling Fidesz party later hit out at theaters that "demand money from the government while denying them access to their internal affairs and hiding crimes for years."
Divisions over Orban's policies in Hungary
04:36
This browser does not support the video element.
Sharp criticism
Culture in Hungary is heavily subsidized by the state, with museum, opera and theater tickets generally much cheaper than in Western Europe, for example. At the same time, few municipalities have the means to finance their theaters and often rely on government funds for their upkeep.
The government said the new rules would create transparency and predictability in theater financing, while creating a "totally clear situation'' where the theater's operation is the responsibility of the financial backer. The legislation says that the "basic expectation'' of cultural activities covered by the law is that they "actively protect the interests of the nation's survival, well-being and growth.''
But critics view the bill as a new effort by Orban's government to stifle independence in the arts. Over 45,000 people have signed a petition condemning the proposal.
Viktor Orban's most controversial migration comments
Hungary's right-wing prime minister has been one of Europe's leading voices against migration into the EU. Unafraid of controversy, he has described migration as an "invasion" and migrants as a "poison."
Image: Reuters/B. Szabo
'Muslim invaders'
"We don't see these people as Muslim refugees. We see them as Muslim invaders," Orban said in a recent interview with German daily Bild newspaper. The 54-year-old prime minister of Hungary added: "We believe that a large number of Muslims inevitably leads to parallel societies, because Christian and Muslim society will never unite." Multiculturalism, he said, "is only an illusion."
Image: Reuters/F. Lenoir
'You wanted the migrants, we didn't'
When asked by Bild whether it was fair for Germany to accept hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants while Hungary accepted none, Orban responded: "The difference is, you wanted the migrants, and we didn't." Migration, he said, threatens the "sovereignty and cultural identity" of Hungary.
Image: Reuters/L. Balogh
'Migration is poison'
It was not the first time the Hungarian leader has framed migration as a problem for his country. In 2016, he said that Hungary "does not need a single migrant for the economy to work, or the population to sustain itself, or for the country to have a future." He added: "for us migration is not a solution but a problem ... not medicine but a poison, we don’t need it and won’t swallow it.”
Image: picture alliance/dpa/AP Photo/P. Gorondi
'Importing homophobia'
Orban has repeatedly criticized German Chancellor Angela Merkel for her decision to allow over a million migrants into Germany in the summer of 2015. Orban told Bild in early 2016: "If you take masses of non-registered immigrants from the Middle East into your country, you are importing terrorism, crime, anti-Semitism, and homophobia."
Image: Reuters/L. Balogh
'All terrorists are basically migrants'
Orban has also repeatedly criticized the EU for trying to get member states to share refugees based on national quotas. In a 2015 interview with POLITICO, he suggested the bloc's leaders instead focus more on strengthening the EU's external border. In the same interview, he said: "Of course it’s not accepted, but the factual point is that all the terrorists are basically migrants."
Image: Getty Images/AFP/S. Bozon
'Parallel societies'
Orban has found allies in other right-wing governments in eastern Europe such as Poland that also oppose the EU's refugee policies. In an interview with Spanish TV channel Intereconomia in 2015, Orban raised fears about integrating Muslim migrants in the EU when he said: "What sort of Europe do we want to have? Parallel societies? Muslim communities living together with the Christian community?"
Image: Reuters/K. Pempel
6 images1 | 6
Renowned actor and director Tamas Jordan highlighted criticism of the government's plans by the leadership of the Hungarian Academy of Arts, which is close to the Orban government. "In decisions about important professional questions, it's possible to rise above political points of view,'' Jordan said.
"When we defend the freedom of theater, we defend the freedom of the city," the recently elected liberal mayor of Budapest, Gergely Karacsony, told protesters gathered in the capital on Monday.
The move is the latest squeeze on independent institutions in the country since Orban came to power in 2010 and launched a centralization drive that has transformed the judiciary, media and education system, among other sectors.
