George Soros: Bogeyman of the Right

Hungary’s populist prime minister Viktor Orban is not the only one viewing the billionaire as one of his biggest enemies. Why?

• Following his victory in Hungary’s general election prime minister Viktor Orban attacked one man again: George Soros, billionaire, philanthropist and common enemy of right-wing populists.
• Soros, born in 1930 to a Jewish family in Budapest, had featured as a bogeyman in Orban’s election campaigns before – even though Orban had once studied on a Soros-funded scholarship himself.
• After the fall of the iron curtain Soros had become famous for funding nongovernmental organizations, universities and think tanks in Central and Eastern Europe.
• He also supported liberal projects and pro-democracy efforts in Western societies. In the US he is still supporting candidates of the Democratic party which makes him an adversary for Republicans.
• In many cases criticism of Soros’ activities is being associated with antisemitism since the billionaire is a well-known politically involved person with Jewish background.
• In global right-wing environments the name “Soros” is often being used as a code for Jewish people in general – in spite of him being ad odds with conservative Israeli governments for a long time.