Syftet med uppsatsen var att undersöka den politiska utveckling som har präglat Ungern det senaste årtiondet, förankrat i Michael Johnstons teori om korruptionssyndrom. Studien tar avstamp i två frågeställningar som avsåg att besvara Ungern positionering inom det korruptionssyndrom som landet placerades inom år 2005, samt i vilken riktning landet tenderade att förflytta sig mot. Den metodologiska ansatsen för uppsatsen var en kvalitativ idealtypsanalys som genomfördes på det specifika fallet Ungern. Den främsta anledningen atttillämpa Ungern som ett empiriskt fall spelade in på den politiska ovisshet som råder i landet med premiärminister Viktor Orbán i regi. Ungerns statistiska klassificering har de dryga 10 åren kommit att reduceras drastisk i Transparency Internationals årliga korruptionsmätningar, samtidigt som den exekutiva makten medvetet har motarbetat en demokratisk utveckling. Utifrån de teoretiska faktorerna som spelar en stor väsentlig roll i uppsatsen, politiska möjligheter, ekonomiska möjligheter, statskapacitet samt ekonomiska institutioner har material samlats in för att besvara de ovannämnda forskningsfrågorna. Ett allomfattande resultat som går att urskilja, är att de politiska möjligheterna i Ungern ogynnsamt har kommit att förändras och sålunda kommit att påverka Ungerns positionering och riktning inom korruptionssyndromet elitkartell.

This paper examines the securitization of education in Hungary during 2017 according to the statements of prime minister Viktor Orbán in official speeches published on the Hungarian government’s website. This quantiative examination combines the methods of discourse analysis, taking off from the works of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, partially extended with the comments of Marianne Winther Jørgensen and Louise Phillips, with the Copenhangen School’s dictum on securitization being performed through a speech act. It is argued that securitization can be used in examining the sudden changes in the Amendments to the Law on National Higher Education (education policy), a combination which is not a traditional proceeding in security research. The findings of the paper show on one hand Hungary’s shifting role within the European Union (EU) as a more, respectively less, independent member depending on the topic being discussed, and on the other that the principal referent objects in a security discourse is the Hungarian nation, with Central European University (CEU) as the particular target to the changes, essentially being accused to be part of an illegal network sponsored by George Soros with the aim to facilitate illegal migration (sic!), which from a securitization move perspective therefore legitimizes immediate action by the Hungarian government.

Jakob Marcks Master's Thesis Budapest versus Brussels: Viktor Orbán's Politics of Memory Against the European Union Abstract Since Viktor Orbán came to power in 2010, disputes between Hungary and the European Union have increased. Among the contested issues are legislative changes, Hungary's new constitution as well as the so-called refugee crisis. While the European Commission criticizes violations of EU law and EU principles, Orbán accuses "Brussels" of illegitimate interferences with domestic affairs. In this context Orbán frequently uses historicizing arguments, which means that he invokes Hungarian history in order to explain present-day politics. Orbán paints a picture of brave Hungarians who repeatedly fought for freedom in the past, and who repeatedly became the victims of foreign Empires. Today, he claims, Hungarians are in a similar situation again, yet this time they have to defend their freedom against the European Union. While doing so, Orbán often blurs the line between past and present and creates a strict antagonism of "us against them". Historically, "us against them" refers to freedom fighters against communists. Today, "us" refers to a Christian Hungary that values work, family and national sovereignty, and "them" refers to a global liberal elite, represented by the European Union and...