Hungary's Orban Risks Alienating His Power Base With New Internet Tax

Hungarian Economy Minister Mihaly Varga formally submitted the state budget for 2015 to the country's parliament on behalf of the government Oct. 30. Supported by its two-thirds majority in the National Assembly, the Hungarian government has faced few direct challenges to its policy programs over the past four years, but the 2015 draft budget has become a problem for Prime Minister Viktor Orban. On Oct. 28, tens of thousands of Hungarians marched in Budapest in the largest anti-government demonstration in Hungary since Orban's election in 2010. The protesters, mostly students and middle-class professionals, are calling on Orban's Fidesz party to withdraw the proposed tax on Internet traffic from the 2015 budget. At a time when Hungary is struggling to balance its relations with Russia with its ties to the European Union, a decrease in support from Fidesz' core voters will further constrain Orban and limit his room to maneuver.