New Opposition Movements in Hungary

In recent years, Europe has witnessed protest movements from across the political spectrum successfully striking a chord with the mainstream. With the European elections rapidly approaching, the success of these movements poses many questions: What is the potential of these movements for reshaping the political debate in Europe? Can they use their influence to win real power in the European Parliament?

The Open Society European Policy Institute hosts a debate on these questions around a political case in point: Hungary. Beyond the success of the far-right Jobbik party, Hungary has seen a plurality of new protest movements emerge since the 2010 parliamentary elections. This discussion will present a report about eight new opposition movements in Hungary, based on a survey of over 4,000 of their Facebook supporters.

Speakers

• Péter Krekó, Director of the Hungarian think tank Political Capital and co-author of the report, will introduce main findings of the survey and their implications for Hungarian and European politics and parties.
• Jamie Bartlett, Senior Researcher at the British think tank Demos and co-author of the report, will outline comparisons and differences with other successful protest movements in Europe, like the Pirate Parties in Germany and Sweden, the True Finns in Finland, and the 5 Star Movement in Italy.
• John Wyles, Journalist for the European Voice and Senior Advisor to the European Policy Centre on EU politics and institutions, will reflect on the broader impliations of the findings of the report, including on the popular perception of the European Union and the rise of populism in Central Eastern Europe ahead of the European Parliament elections.
• The debate will be moderated by Heather Grabbe, Director of the Open Society European Policy Institute.

RSVP

Please note that seats are limited. If you are interested in joining this debate, please register with nadja.groot@opensocietyfoundations.org.