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New European
27-05-2025
- Politics
- New European
Here's how Orbán could be ousted
In British political terms, it would be a safe Tory seat, and for nearly 30 years it voted consistently for Orbán's conservative Fidesz party. But today, it is led by Gergely Kovács, head of the Hungarian Two-Tailed Dog Party (MKKP), which, as its name suggests, is a joke party. Its policies include free beer for all, and eternal life. District XII is the South Kensington of Budapest. Overlooking the city from the steep slopes of the city's Buda side, Hegyvidék, as it is officially called, is home to the country's wealthiest and most influential people. It's where the celebrities live. It's where the oligarchs live. It's where Viktor Orbán lives. Kovács, 45, doesn't look like the mayor of one of the country's richest neighbourhoods. He is usually to be found wearing a T-shirt, jeans and trainers. He is also one of Hungary's most successful grassroots politicians. It all started at the turn of the century in Szeged, a town in southern Hungary, where Kovács and his friends ditched academic elitism for underground culture, hanging out with skaters, rappers and street artists, and plastering the streets with politically themed stickers. After a poster competition to imagine the consequences of a nuclear war, the two-tailed dog was born, and in 2006, so was the party of the same name. To start with, the whole thing remained a political joke between Kovács and his friends, who made posters, staged fake protests, and ran the occasional joke candidate in elections. As a former member put it, they were a group of friends who smoked weed together, sobered up, then actually did the things they planned when they were high. That all changed in 2015. In response to the refugee crisis, Orbán's government littered the country with billboards bearing xenophobic slogans. Kovács raised £100,000 to run a counter-campaign using the same template, with satirical messages like: 'The Hate Campaign Loves You'; and 'Immigrants Don't Work, They Just Take Our Jobs'. The billboards attracted many who were tired of hateful politics. They formed MKKP's grassroots network of 'passivists', and volunteered to rejuvenate their neighbourhoods and help people in need. After the Dog Party's parliamentary campaigns failed in 2018 and 2022, it moved into local politics, a shift spearheaded by Kovács, who turned his attention to Hegyvidék. By the late 2010s Fidesz was struggling in its historic stronghold. As Orbán pivoted to the far right, he increasingly turned towards working-class rural voters in his messaging and policies. While this helped him secure landslide victories in general elections, it estranged his party's centrist and centre right base in areas like Hegyvidék, where it lost the parliamentary race in 2022. Kovács won a seat on the District XII council in 2019. He started making a noise about Fidesz's corrupt practices and campaigned against destruction of green areas, and led a campaign to support the elderly during the pandemic. As Fidesz's politics turned farcical, the joke party emerged as the serious alternative. In 2024, opposition parties united in District XII to kick out Fidesz. Kovács ran a satirical-yet-serious campaign for mayor. He won a 14-point victory, and the Dog Party formed a majority on the Hegyvidék council. He has now been mayor for a year. 'Even if we don't end up doing anything, we'll already be better than Fidesz,' he said when taking office. He has already reversed Fidesz's shady public procurement policies, and launched fundraising efforts for disadvantaged communities. In 2026, there is a good chance Hungarians will remove Orbán from power, with the help of the opposition leader, Péter Magyar. As for the Dog Party, it has announced its candidate for prime minister: Kutyika Kutyi, 'Doggity Dog' – Kovács's labrador. Iván L Nagy is a Hungarian political journalist living in New York
Euronews
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Demonstration in favour of cannabis legalisation takes place in Budapest
ADVERTISEMENT The Curia of Hungary, also known as the Supreme Court, has overturned the police's decision to ban the Hungarian Two-Tailed Dog Party (MKKP) from holding an event in capital Budapest's Madách Square. At the Million Marijuana March event, MKKP co-chair Zsuzsanna Döme argued that alcohol and designer drugs cause much greater social harm, yet the government criminalises the usage of marijuana by young people. Activists gave a presentation on an effective and smart approach to drug policies, illustrating the effects of various mind-altering drugs. "Users are very demonised. There is no understanding of how they get there, but there is no safety net to help them," said one participant. "It's a topic that we really don't talk about in the right way. It would be better to change it, even in small steps," added another young person at the event. The Two-Tailed Dog Party is undertaking its 'drug war' in an unusual way: "We have targeted the addictions of our political, economic and cultural elites. As you can see here, power, public money, obscene language, pornography, alcohol, real estate, luxury, propaganda, fatty foods and, of course, the tovarish Putin," Ferenc Somody, a political candidate for the MKKP, explained to Euronews. The police had banned the planned event, citing an amendment made to Hungary's Fundamental Law which tightened child protection policies and drug security. On 14 April, the Hungarian parliament enshrined a zero tolerance policy towards drugs in the amendment. The country's Fundamental Law also states that the production, consumption, distribution and promotion of drugs is prohibited. The MKKP has appealed the decision, arguing that the police's decision to ban marijuana was taken prior to the Fundamental Law's amendment. The Curia concluded that an event cannot be banned on the basis of a law that had not yet been adopted. The Million Marijuana March, also referred to as the Global Marijuana March, is an event held all over the world. In many countries, the event is held on 20 April, a reference to the term 4:20, which is cannabis culture slang for marijuana consumption. The use of cannabis, which is considered by many to be less harmful than alcohol and tobacco, has been decriminalised or legalised in a growing number of countries in recent years.
Budapest Times
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Budapest Times
Pride proposals without majority in Budapest city council
At its meeting on Wednesday, the Budapest Parliament did not put the proposals related to the Pride parade and the protection of the right of assembly on the agenda. The Satirical Party of the Two-Tailed Dog (MKKP) and the left-wing Párbeszéd had submitted corresponding proposals, but did not receive the necessary majority to put them on the agenda. Fidesz-KDNP, DK, MKKP and Párbeszéd supported this, Mayor Gergely Karácsony abstained, the 14 MPs from MSZP, Podmaniczky Movement and Tisza Party did not vote. Are we facing a Russian scenario? Krisztina Baranyi, mayor of Ferencváros and member of the Budapest MKKP parliamentary group, emphasised that the toughest action should be taken against the ban on Pride. Freedom of the press and the war in Ukraine are not communication traps, but the defining political conflicts of our time. 'Our task is not to avoid these debates, but to lead them.' Pride has been banned in Moscow for 19 years, and the last parts of the free Russian press and NGOs were dismantled three years ago at the start of the war against Ukraine – is this also a scenario for Hungary? Fidesz attacks fundamental freedoms Párbeszéd parliamentary group leader Richárd Barabás pointed out that the citizens of Budapest are in favour of Pride, which is why they demonstrated on Tuesday. In his opinion, 'what is happening in Hungary today is no longer simply about the LGBTQ community or Pride, the governing parties are threatening fundamental freedoms'. According to Dávid Molnár (Tisza), the purpose of the amendment to the Basic Law is to build a surveillance state, everything else is just a provocation to divide citizens. His party does not support the debate on the proposals, because that is exactly what Fidesz wants, just to avoid having to talk about what is actually happening in the country, namely that the end of their power could be near in a few months. Pride – a mockery of the family Gergely Kristóf Gulyás (Fidesz-KDNP) described Pride as a political movement 'which is about mocking the family and exerting ideological pressure, which the left is trying to package as a political spectacle'. He sees the amendment to the Basic Law as forward-looking, as the protection of children is a national concern and stands above all else.
