Good and Bad migrants in Hungary. The populist story and the reality in Hungarian migration policy
Good and Bad migrants in Hungary. The populist story and the reality in Hungarian migration policy

Summary/Abstract: After the 2014 elections, the governing coalition of Hungary put migration-related issues on the political agenda as the main theme to regain its domestic legitimacy. One major means for this was the securitization of the migration discourse by strong binary oppositions and the southern state border, a distinguished place in Hungarian identity through constructing a fence and bolstering its othering function. It faced rejections all over Europe, but then garnered some supporters, mostly in post-socialist Europe, and among populist parties of Western Europe. The anti-migration stance caused significant communication success and legitimised its pioneer, the Hungarian government. We aim to evaluate the political and social impacts of the migration crisis in Hungary through the perspective of the Hungarian domestic political and economic interests and examine the special characteristics of Hungarian populism, moreover, focus on a new conceptual approach that examines government’s attitude towards migrants dividing them into good and bad groups.

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