ABSTRACT

Hungary has been under an ambiguous spotlight in Europe in recent years regarding the way in which the Hungarian government handled the migration wave of 2015 and the political discourse promoted ever since by positioning itself as the ‘Guardian of Christian Europe’. To understand this rhetoric, one needs to look at the historical heritage of the country. This chapter argues that due to traumatic events of the past, Hungarian society is sceptical about the prospects of a heterogonous and multipath society, and the government has shaped its narrative regarding Muslims and migration taking this attitude into account. This chapter also sheds light on how the Hungarian government uses the question of migration and Muslims in order to reap political profit both domestically and at the international level as Europe’s bulwark against migration and Muslims who represent a security threat for the country and the continent – a stance that increasingly resonates not only at home but also on a wider European level.