The Jobbik – Movement for a Better Hungary (, ), commonly known as Jobbik () and previously known as Conservatives () between 2023 and 2024, is a conservative political party in Hungary. Originating with radical and nationalist roots, at its beginnings the party described itself as "a principled, conservative and radically patriotic Christian party", whose "fundamental purpose" is the protection of "Hungarian values and interests." In 2014, the party was described as an "anti-Semitic organization" by The Independent and a "neo-Nazi party" by the president of the European Jewish Congress.
From 2015 to 2020, the party started to redefine itself as a more moderate conservative people's party and changed the controversial elements of its communication, culminating with its new declaration of principles now defining itself as a centre-right and pro-European party, with some residual moderated nationalist tendencies (the position previously occupied by Fidesz). According to the party's "Declaration of Principles", Jobbik would "always focus on the interests of Hungary and the Hungarian people instead of a political group or an ideology. On the other hand, [Jobbik] reject[s] hatemongering and extreme political views that are contrary to Christian values and ethics." Foreign media remained sceptical about the efficiency of the ideological change with voices, arguing the change to be comparable to "a wolf in sheep's clothing".Euronews - Soul searching for Hungary’s once 'neo-Nazi' Jobbik party, 2022OpenDemocracy - The rise and fall of Jobbik, 2020
At the 2018 Hungarian parliamentary election, the party polled 1,092,806 votes, securing 19.06% of the total, making it Hungary's second-largest party in the National Assembly. The party position was confirmed in 2022, while 2026 marked the first time it did not present an electoral party list.
Name The Movement for a Better Hungary more commonly goes under its abbreviated name Jobbik, which is in fact a play on words. The word in Hungarian has two meanings, the adjective for "better" and the direction "right". Consequently, the comparative form Jobbik means both "better choice" and "more to the right". This is somewhat similar to the English phrase "right choice", which could mean both "a choice on the right side of the political spectrum" and "a correct choice". In fact, originally it was a pun, JOBBIK is the short form for JOBBoldali Ifjúsági Közösség (English: Right-wing Christian Youth Community). On 25 February 2023 the party's congress announced that the party legally changed its name to Jobbik – Conservatives. In September 2024, the party's name was changed back to Jobbik - Movement for a Better Hungary.
History and development
Foundation The group was first established in 2002 as the Right-wing Christian Youth Community (Jobboldali Ifjúsági Közösség – JOBBIK) by a group of Catholic and Protestant university students. It was founded as a political party in October 2003, by Gabor Vona, the son of a staunchly anti-Communist farming family."The Jobbik Party in Hungary: History and Background ," Human Rights First, December 2015.. The new party elected Dávid Kovács as president, serving until 2006. A key figure was Gergely Pongrátz who, in a speech to the founding conference, invoked the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. Around Christmas 2003, Jobbik conducted a nationwide programme of erecting crosses, to remind Hungarians of the "true meaning" of the holiday. The move was criticized by several Christian intellectual groups.
Alliances
Even though the far-right Hungarian Justice and Life Party (MIÉP) and Jobbik had publicly quarreled, the parties formed an electoral alliance for the 2006 Hungarian parliamentary election, the MIÉP–Jobbik Third Way Alliance of Parties. The alliance sought to win votes from the major conservative Fidesz party; however, the alliance won only 2.2% of the votes, and Jobbik largely withdrew from it. In 2009 the State Audit Office (ÁSZ) reported the alliance for grave breaches of accounting rules. Jobbik blamed MIÉP alone for the irregularities.
Jobbik fought the 2010 and 2014 parlaimentary elections without political allies. In 2016, there were rumours that some unnamed influential figures were considering a coalition, which would consit of the left-liberal parties and Jobbik, to challenge the Fidesz government; however, Jobbik rejected the idea of cooperating with any other political party. Nevertheless, Gábor Vona said in an interview: "We will need several bridges ... to voters on the left, not to parties on the left. Jobbik offers a message, a program both to former leftist and former rightist voters."
Magyar Gárda and conflicts in the party
During the 2000s, public order was a key topic in Hungarian political life; especially after the 2006 lynching of a Hungarian teacher by Roma people in the Eastern Hungarian village of Olaszliszka. The case turned public attention to the failure of Roma integration and the inability of the Hungarian police to maintain law and order in the Hungarian countryside. The idea of setting up a "national guard", similar to the National Guard of the United States, became popular among the conservative political parties of Hungary.
In June 2007, Gábor Vona – supported by the party – founded and registered an organisation called Magyar Gárda ("Hungarian Guard"). Its deed of foundation declared that it intended to become "part or core" of a national guard, to be set up in accordance with the Gabriel Bethlen programme, and to participate actively "in strengthening national self-defence" and "maintaining public order". Additional goals included supporting and organising social and charity missions, disaster prevention and civil defence. The foundation of the Guard caused fierce political debate.
On 10 March 2008, three leading figures resigned from the party: founding president Dávid Kovács, committee chairman Ervin Nagy, and former ethics committee chairman Márton Fári. They named the Hungarian Guard as the cause of their resignation, stating that "Jobbik has been merged inseparably with the Guard, taking responsibility for something that it cannot really control in the long run".
On 2 July 2009 the Metropolitan Court of Appeal () disbanded the Hungarian Guard Movement because the court held that its activities attacked the human rights of minorities guaranteed by the Constitution of Hungary. The Guard has attempted to reorganize itself as a civil service association, the Magyar Gárda Foundation, engaged in cultural and nation building activities rather than politics. Its renewed activities are opposed by the Hungarian authorities, and prosecutors claim that the founding of the new organization is in contempt of previous court rulings. After several schisms, the organization has largely ceased activity. On 28 January 2017 some radical members of the Magyar Gárda held a demonstration against Gábor Vona outside Jobbik's year-opening event. Participants denounced the new politics of Jobbik as a betrayal of the right wing.
Moderating the party Before the 2014 Hungarian parliamentary election, Jobbik began a new policy: the so-called néppártosodás (transition to a people's party). The party adopted a new style of communication while reversing many radical elements of its earlier program. In what could be seen as an example of moderation theory, Jobbik leaders declared that it turned from a radical right-wing party into a moderate conservative people's party. In an interview, party president Gábor Vona promised to "cut the wildlings", referring to the one-time radicals.
In 2016, the party pursued its strategy of de-demonization by abandoning parts of its original ideology and excluding certain extremist elements. The aim was to make its image more respectable and present a credible opposition to the conservative government of Viktor Orbán. Despite Jobbik's pledges, particularly to the Jewish community in Hungary, many left-wing intellectuals and political figures say they want to keep their distance from an organization deemed as undemocratic. Others, on the other hand – including philosopher Ágnes Heller – consider it necessary to ally with all opposition parties, including Jobbik, to defeat Orbán's Fidesz. Heller said that Jobbik was never a neo-Nazi party, although she described them as far-right and racist. At the local level, implicit alliances were formed between left-wing parties and Jobbik in partial municipal elections to defeat the ruling-government party.
Although the party was commonly described as far-right by observers and in the international press, from the mid-2010s it became more difficult to classify Jobbik in those terms, because of its policy changes, and also due to Fidesz's increasingly right-wing rhetoric. Support for Jobbik is particularly strong among young people. Since 2014, the party has consciously tried to attract young people who are disappointed with other political parties. An international survey, conducted in 2016, found that 53 percent of Hungarians aged between 18 and 35 years would vote for Jobbik; however, Jobbik's strategy – moving away from its far-right roots and staking out a more centrist position – has resulted in the emergence of more radical dissident formations, like the new party Force and Determination, or Our Homeland Movement.
Crisis after 2018 and cooperation with other opposition parties Prior to the 2018 parliamentary election, Gábor Vona promised that he would resign if he could not lead the party to victory. True to his word, he resigned after the results were announced. Despite rumors that Jobbik would change its policies, the National Board of the party unanimously decided in favor of the moderate, conservative policies. On 12 May 2018 the party elected Tamás Sneider as the president and Márton Gyöngyösi as the executive vice-president of the party. The Hungarian press saw this as a victory for the moderate wing. Tamás Sneider announced that he wanted to build a socially conscious party, based on the teachings of Christianity.
Sneider's rival for the leadership of the party, László Toroczkai, received 46.2% of the votes. He threatened to split the party unless it returned to its original policies. His platform included an end to immigration, stemming emigration of Hungarian youth to the wealthier west of the EU, a tough line on Hungary's Roma minority, and support for ethnic Hungarian minorities in neighboring states. When his proposals were rejected, Toroczkai formed a new party with Dóra Dúró: Our Homeland Movement. On 7 November 2018, László Toroczkai announced that three former Jobbik politicians – István Apáti, Erik Fülöp and János Volner – had joined Our Homeland Movement. In 2019, he reorganized the Magyar Gárda and made it part of the Our Homeland Movement.
On 12 December 2018, the Hungarian Parliament adopted an amendment to the Overtime Act (Often called "Slave Law" by the opposition) on a scandalous session. On this day, representatives of Jobbik, MSZP, LMP, DK and Dialogue in the National Assembly disrupted the legislation by hesitating, shouting, broadcasting and preventing the presidential pulpit from obstructing the vote. Following the parliamentary meeting, mass protests began all over the country, where Jobbik is participating together with the other opposition parties. Following the demonstrations, left-wing politicians, including the President of the Hungarian Socialist Party Bertalan Tóth, suggested that opposition parties, including Jobbik, should run on a common list at the European Parliament elections.