The Constitutionalised Image of Enemy in the Hungarian Fundamental Law

Abstract

Making a constitution is about making political identity and creating political community. This paper investigates how the Hungarian Fundamental Law (entered into force in 2012) and its amendments have been based on constant enemy creation. In the first section, the theoretical framework of enemy- and identity construction of the Orbán regime has been deeply analysed. The Schmittian concepts of friend and foe relation, repolitization, and the Kossellck’s well-known asymmetric counter concepts have been used to demonstrate the commitment of the Hungarian political regime to make constitutional identity as an enemy creation. In the second part the constitutional enemy creation has been contextualized and the pre-2010s roots of the constitutional weaponization and the emerging hegemony of the Orbán regime have been problematized. The main contribution of this paper is the set up of the deep analytical framework of the Constitutionalised Image of Enemy (CIE) which phrase has been named and introduced by this research. It has been argued here that the three main CIEs of the Hungarian Fundamental Law are the anti-Communism, anti-immigration and anti-gender attitude and its constitutional framework. Summarizing the paper, it is claimed here that at the heart of Hungarian constitutional identity is the Schmittian friend-enemy dichotomy which has been integrated in the framework of asymmetrical counter concepts, moreover the significant social impact of the CIEs is unleashed considerable anger and hatred.

Keywords: Hungary, Constitution, Fundamental Law, Political Enemy