With Andras Bartal, the leader of the Hungarian organization Bűnvadászok (meaning “criminal hunters”) talks Przemysław Piasta
Your organization enjoys large designation in Hungary, and I have been following it for any time. However, there is inactive small talk about it in Poland. Could you tell our readers what this organization is, how long it exists and what goals it sets itself? We would like Polish audiences to realize the context of this conversation better.
– First of all, thank you for inviting us to talk and for your interest in our work. After all, I accept them with large respect, Poles and Hungarians combine long-term relationship and a sense of community of fate. Our initiative has been created in consequence to a very serious social problem, which in Hungary has taken on a systemic scale. It is simply a phenomenon of the alleged "apartment sailboats", i.e. situations in which property owners in practice lose their ability to usage their property. Hungarian government mostly protects the individual in the premises, even if its presence is illegal. As a result, the owner frequently lacks real tools to recover the apartment, and the state institutions prove insufficiently effective in specified cases. Our goal was to rise awareness of this problem and to make solutions that would reconstruct the balance between the rights of tenants and the rights of owners. We are working towards legislative changes and greater protection of citizens in the face of abuse.
Last March, I attended your National Festival events on March 15. We have been there for the second year in a row and I besides remember your speech. To what degree does your activities affect combating crime? What are your relationships with another environments? Can you be considered a political movement? After all, society usually responds to circumstantial problems.
– Society reacts always, sometimes to a limited extent, and sometimes very decisively, depending on the gravity of the problem. In this case, the reaction was firm. I was not only a participant, but besides 1 of the leaders of the action on this issue. This problem has besides been highlighted by László Toroczkai, the leader of Mi Hazánk Mozgalom (The Movement of Our Homeland). We felt that it was essential to give our activities a professional framework, both organisational and technical, to paper the phenomenon fairly, to present concrete proposals for changes and to effectively influence public debate. Our actions are so of a social and political nature. On the 1 hand, we respond to the real problems of citizens and effort to aid solve them, on the other, we present a broader imagination of the state and the direction in which Hungary should be heading. We believe that there is simply a deficiency of genuine representation of national interests in public space, and many environments with a conservative or sovereign profile are marginalised. Since the political changes after 1990, there has not been, in our opinion, as a clear effort of political renewal as the 1 proposed by the Movement of Our Homeland. We are trying to present a coherent imagination of the future of the country: based on sovereignty, citizens' safety and respect for property rights. It is in this context that we must realize our activity and the reason why this conversation arises.
Aren't you afraid of charges of radicalism? There are fewer organised environments in Europe that are akin to yours, and specified initiatives frequently get the description "extremist" very quickly.
– specified allegations do indeed appear and we do not run distant from this discussion. We openly say that we are a national movement with a clear, decisive ideological profile. In the political dimension, we represent the national-radical trend and do not hide this fact. At the same time, our actions are not about demonstration gestures or rhetoric for rhetoric itself. We effort to respond specifically and adequately to real social problems, in an orderly, professional and effective way. We are presenting what we are doing to the public in Hungary, but what is worth highlighting, besides more broadly, in the European dimension. We see that many of the phenomena we are talking about are not just about Hungary or Central Europe, but alternatively Europe-wide. In history, both the Hungarian and Polish people have repeatedly opposed external pressures and various forms of restraint of sovereignty. In the Habsburg Empire, Hungarians were even referred to as a “rebellious nation”, 1 who does not accept the imposed solutions and is against what he considers unfair. Poland has akin experiences. present the Mi Hazánk Mozgal movement sees itself as a continuation of this tradition of opposition to the phenomena that we consider harmful to our national communities.
You are a social movement, but this year in Hungary it is hard to separate social activity from politics. I talked to quite a few people in Budapest, including entrepreneurs and scientists. Many of them are inclined towards social democracy. At the same time, there are many young people around you. Which way will this year's elections go? Towards national-conservative parties or alternatively liberal-left parties?
– The political situation in Hungary is very ambiguous today. There's quite a few intellectual confusion in public space. Many groups lost their clear identity. It is hard to find clearly who represents what imagination of the state and what values. In our opinion, only 1 formation presents present a coherent and clearly defined imagination of the present and future of Hungary, and that is Mi Hazánk Mozgalom. Will voters share this rating? That always remains an open question. Social sentiments are changing and the result of the elections depends on many factors. However, there is simply a increasing interest in national environments, especially among younger generations. So we can talk about a breakthrough, although it is hard to foretell the final result with full work today.
I want that your organization and the Mi Hazánk movement make and accomplish a satisfactory consequence in spring. Finally, a brief question: will we meet on the streets of Budapest on March 15?
Yeah, I'll definitely be there. This is an crucial date and an crucial event for us. Although speaking before a large audience always requires preparation and responsibility, I respect them as a natural part of public activity. Politics. regardless of differences, it should be based on conversation and direct contact with people. That's why I'll be in Budapest on March 15, and I hope we can meet again.
Thank you for talking to me.
Talked to Przemysław Piasta
Bűnvadászok brings together activists and volunteers associated with the right-wing organization Mi Hazánk Mozgalom. The intent of their activities is to aid owners of illegally settled properties and fight crime.