The Pride flags on the Elizabeth (Erzsébet) Bridge, which had been thrown into the Danube by a courageous patriot, were replaced by members of the youth wing of the Mi Hazánk Mozgalom (Our Homeland Movement) with Hungarian national flags. The opposition party stated that, in their view, true pride should be reserved for one’s family, country, and personal achievements.
“We have decorated the Elizabeth Bridge in red, white, and green”—with this introduction, Our Homeland published a post with photos on Facebook on Wednesday.
The nationalist-radical opposition party stated:
The youth of Our Homeland have decorated the entire bridge with Hungarian flags. In June, just as on all 365 days of the year, a normal person can only be truly proud of their family, their homeland, and their achievements.”
“Instead of foreign, imported ideologies, we promote patriotism, as well as the idea that we Hungarians have plenty to be proud of,” the post stated.
This year, for the first time, the opposition party proclaimed the “Month of National Pride,” to which everyone is invited who—as they put it—”cares deeply about standing up for their homeland and traditions.”
At the same time, they announced that the “March of Family Pride” will take place on July 11, during which participants will jointly advocate for the traditional family model and healthy roles for fathers and mothers.
“In the face of the globalist world and its elite, we declare: There is no shame in being Hungarian, and national self-defense is not a crime, but a healthy immune response,” they added.
“To (Mayor) Gergely Karácsony, we send this message: ‘Budapest belongs to the Hungarians!’” reads the post on the Our Homeland Facebook page.
The publicity-driven action was deemed necessary after Mayor Gergely Karácsony had the Elizabeth Bridge “decorated” with flags representing what the statement described as an extremist LGBTQ ideology on Saturday morning. As previously reported by Hungary Today, a young man later removed the flags by hand Sunday afternoon and threw them into the Danube. He was subsequently detained and taken in for questioning. The patriot said he
he was proud of what he had done and would do it again if necessary.
Előd Novák, a member of parliament for Our Homeland, announced that they would help the man—who is a father himself and has already joined the opposition party—in every way possible. Numerous internet users praised the courage of the 58-year-old from Mogyoród and offered to provide him with financial assistance. The man will certainly need that support: The 40 LGBTQ flags cost the mayor’s office 2.5 million HUF—a loss that could result in a three-year prison sentence.
The Our Homeland party has once again taken the lead on an issue of national interest. FIDESZ remains preoccupied with itself and is slowly sinking into irrelevance. The demonstrations against the governing party were not planned and carried out by the party—which used to have logistical expertise—but by private citizens and right-wing NGOs, with all the accompanying issues typical of such initiatives organized by novices in the field.
Viktor Orbán’s party would be well advised to overcome its paralysis as quickly as possible and put its expertise at the service of these civil rights activists, even at the cost of this grassroots movement remaining independent of party politics.
On the other hand, it becomes clear once again that TISZA—and Péter Magyar in particular—used the tricolor, which was omnipresent during the election campaign, merely as bait for disillusioned FIDESZ voters.
Photo: MTI/Illyés Tibor
The politician waving the national flag who willingly serves foreign interests—this is nothing more than yet another diversionary tactic by his Brussels-based backers. The national colors are merely a backdrop for self-promotion, as evidenced by the head of government’s indifference to the symbolic provocations coming from Karácsony’s camp.
Featured image: Facebook/Mi Hazánk Mozgalom
