Hungary’s governing Fidesz party is in crisis over an issue it has staked its credibility on: the defence of the traditional family. One of the ministers who pioneered Viktor Orban’s family policy and served as president of Hungary, Katalin Novak, has been forced to resign over a paedophile scandal. Novak resigned on 10 February after a story revealed she had pardoned a man convicted of covering up sexual abuse cases of children at a state orphanage. Judit Varga, the former minister of justice, who signed off the pardon last April, was also forced out. Varga had been due to lead Fidesz’s list in the upcoming European parliament election.
Fidesz pro-family policies are part and parcel of efforts to keep Hungary ‘ethnically homogeneous’
This is not the first scandal to taint the image of Orban’s Fidesz as a conservative Christian force upholding traditional family values in Europe. In 2020, Belgian police responded to a call regarding a Covid lockdown violation in Brussels.
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