Thread by @meme_ec

I spent a few days in #Hungary and I was shocked by the Orwellian atmosphere that looms over it: people afraid of talking about the government, expats fearing repercussions if visiting certain events, and those idiotic (yet effective) propaganda posters everywhere.
#EUTravelMeme

"Are you fed up with Brussels?" ask those cute little posters that are everywhere from towns to countryside. People are welcome to answer in a "public consultation" that hardly respects the secrecy standards of elections.

I spoke with educated Hungarian professionals and many of them are certain that "LGBT, Brussels and Soros" want to "attack Hungary", even though they don't know exactly why or how.

The usual post-Trianon moaning, a century after it, is even more common than before, supported by the many history-rewriting monuments recently built next to the Parliament. Like this one, that claims Hungary was invaded by Nazi-Germany and that they started Jews deportation.

Some of the absurd sentences I collected: "Talking about homosexuality in class can damage normal children"; "Hungarian doctors confirmed that Sinopharm is the most efficient vaccine in the world"; [after making a racist joke] "Black people are not discriminated here".

I fear the EU is once again underestimating the problem: government-controlled media is the main source of information here and it blames every problem on Brussels, recreating the same feelings that led to Brexit. Remaining silent in this situation can be extremely dangerous.

Oppositions recently joined forces, but it seems unlikely they could offer a stable alternative. Freedom of press, equality before the law, and removal of censorship, were three of the points demanded by the Hungarian revolutionaries in 1848.
They are still far from reach.