Welcome to the infuriating world of German media. People with an underhand, wholly undemocratic mission when it comes to Hungary.
That mission is to convince everyone that we’re the odd one out, the square peg that needs to be wrenched out of the round hole it’s jammed itself into, before being strapped to the lathe and having its wretched, nationalistic corners removed by force. Of course, this has, let’s face it, a feel of ‘the elephant in the room’, given the Germans’ Teutonic reputation for various things that they normally pretend never happened.
The German media output regarding Hungary is nothing but an ongoing, extremely one-dimensional political attack sustained over a number of years. This latest report from DW, a German public television service follows the same well-trodden path.
In DW’s arrogant opinion, Hungarians are not permitted to have a government that seeks to improve the lives of Hungary and the state of the country. The German media don’t like that.
The German media lash out with the only tool they know how to use, the tool of fabrication. They are, it must be said, well-schooled in the dark arts, and where Hungary is concerned, German media suffer excessively from mythomania.
The DW report focused on the reconstruction of the Buda Castle. A reconstruction process which has been ongoing for some years now. The Castle District, destroyed from WWII onwards, is slowly being restored.
Even as recently as a few decades ago, the Várkert Bazár, part of UNESCO’s World Heritage sites, was a ramshackle mess of bricks and rubble left to rot by the communists who despised historical beauty.
In 2013 reconstruction and renovation began to restore the buildings and gardens to their original state, and today the buildings and gardens of the Várkert Bazár are as stunning as they were originally.
The reconstruction and restoration of the rest of the Castle District are ongoing, and DW have sought to link the restoration of a part of Budapest’s history to the presumed resurgence of national socialism.
Even just writing that sentence causes confusion. This is truly absurd. A German media organisation, financed by the German state has forgotten modern history. The German state whose predecessors caused the destruction of most of Europe, now seek to accuse others of that which they were guilty of.
In their ludicrously biased report, the DW team sought to prove a link between architectural reconstruction and a presumed resurgence of national socialism.
The Buda Castle was reduced to ruins in the siege of Budapest. Post-war, it was subjected to all sorts of architectural indignities from the communists. The Royal Palace was gutted and everything that had survived the war was destroyed.
These wrongs are now being set right. Buildings which once housed government offices are starting to house government offices once more. The Prime Minister’s Office has been relocated to the reconstructed Carmelite Monastery, next to the official residence and workplace of the President of the Republic. Work is under way to restore the Ministry of Finance to its previous home in Holy Trinity Square, next to Matthias Church.
Now, all of this should surely be met with joy, shouldn’t it? Here we have a city finally being rebuilt to reflect the former glory of historical architecture that was lain to waste by war and communism. Why is this not a good thing?
Why? Because the German media are riddled with communists who now, in the guise of liberalism, see the signs of Nazi resurgence everywhere they look. That Hungary has repeatedly elected a nationally-oriented government, rather than some wishy-washy coalition of nincompoops who are of no use to the nation, is somehow a thorn in the side of German media.
They see a national government in Hungary as evidence of the rise of that which, let’s not forget, they bear responsibility for.
Time for a look in the mirror, no?
Now although the German media will, no doubt, continue to peddle the amusingly cheap mistruth that they are, due to their dark history, able to detect the stirrings of Nazi tendencies earlier than others, anyone with a half-decent working brain can recognise that for the utter bilge that it is.
The Germans, with their surface-level, skin-deep dedication to fair play and only that which can be morally defended, are no better than any other nation we could care to name. The Germans are just as corrupt as any other nation as we have witnessed of late in the face mask scandal, to say nothing of the double standards employed when it comes to their dealings with Russia.
What’s good for the goose...surely?
The Germans have no right to lord it over anyone concerning anything. Their media’s supercilious attitude to Hungary is wholly unacceptable. The arrogance that they afford themselves is, quite simply, breathtaking.
This nation, let us not forget, is that which unleashed Nazism upon the world and still dominates Europe.
In DW’s report, openly anti-government sources were sought for interviews. These are people who would give anything for yet another chance to lash out at a government which has been repeatedly re-elected by the majority.
DW gave them chances in spades.
DW’s editing, quite apart from their concept development, also falls far short of basic media standards. One of the people interviewed opposes the reconstruction in the Castle District due to traffic problems and road closures which occur as a result of visiting delegations. By use of ‘creative’ editing, the German broadcast made it appear as though he, too, saw a resurgence of national socialism in the architectural renovation. The other resident of the district, a man whose wife is Jewish, spoke about his wife’s fear of a repeat of that which the Germans pushed for regarding Jews and other non-Aryans. DW’s report implied that these people had to flee Hungary as a result of the government. Poppycock.
All of this, this one-sided approach to turn an architectural topic into a discussion on the resurrection of national socialism, heaps shame upon German media. But it’s not over yet. DW, unsatisfied with the lack of coverage of things that German media consider of vital importance, such as LGBTQ rights, is planning to start broadcasts in Hungarian. Once again, German media are concerned about media plurality in Hungary.
For how much longer are they going to flog this dead horse?
DW issued a mealy-mouthed apology of sorts after demands for a correction:
“The historical reference in this report has caused concern for some viewers. We would like to make it clear: Nazi Germany is responsible for the enforced transportation and murder of hundreds of thousands of Hungarian Jews. We apologize if the report created a different impression and appeared one-sided.”
Too little, too late. It’s one thing to finally admit where the engine of national socialism was located, but this is a typical media trick: state a lie, allow that lie to propagate, and then, when everyone is concentrating on something else, issue a slippery apology of sorts.
