Despite Setbacks, Far-Right Movements Will Meet in Budapest

From Oct. 3 to Oct. 5, far-right organizations from both sides of the Atlantic are scheduled to gather in Hungary for a conference to discuss issues of nationalism and European identity. Although the conference was announced in April, less than a week before participants were scheduled to arrive in Budapest, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban instructed the Interior Ministry to use all legal means to prevent the conference from taking place. The Interior Ministry responded by banning the conference. In a rare decision in post-Communist Hungary's history, the Interior Ministry also imposed entry bans on foreigners planning to participate in the conference. While banning the conference is likely a violation of Hungarian law due to freedom of speech and assembly guarantees, the conference's organizers have decided to respect the government's instructions and will host a private event closed to the media and the general public. It remains unclear whether the police in Budapest will allow the gathering to take place in any format. Some, including the conference's main organizer, U.S. citizen Richard Spencer, have already managed to enter the country.  

Despite the entry ban, the conference offers a rare glimpse into an emerging trend of far-right ideologies gaining ground across both Europe and Russia. The conference, titled the Identitarian Congress, is the latest in a series of efforts to connect far-right extremist movements and create ties between European far-right movements and Russia.