Jobbik: A Better Hungary at the Cost of Europe

Jobbik, an ultra-nationalist party in Hungary, was founded in 2003. By 2010, this party had secured national parliamentary representation and sent three representatives to the European parliament. In its manifesto and public speeches, Jobbik has called for Hungary to leave the European Union and possibly the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and to forge relations with, among other Eastern countries, Russia, China, and Iran. Meanwhile, the group rattles sabers and nerves on Hungary s uneasy borders with Slovakia and Romania, states with significant Magyar minorities. This thesis seeks to answer the following questions What will a Jobbik-influenced Hungary mean for Europe and the European Union confronted by political, social and economic turmoil that can swiftly has security implications What, if anything, can the EU or NATO do to influence the path of a once-promising democracy in the heart of Europe and the resurgent nationalist conflict in Eastern Europe This thesis concludes that Hungary will maintain its strategic usefulness to NATO regardless of whether it can maintain a Western-styled democracy NATOs other Allies will be content to defer action to other European institutions. The EU s previous attempts to influence far-right governments have failed and many of the EUs member states have human rights issues of their own The EU is not likely to take meaningful action against Jobbik. Therefore, it is up to the Hungarians to save their own democracy.