Hungarian government suspects Soros is behind George Clooney's criticism of Orban

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Gov’t Suspects Soros Behind George Clooney’s Orbán-Criticism

Hungary Today 2020.11.23.

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Speaking about his new movie, Hollywood actor George Clooney says its mood was determined by how much anger and hatred can be experienced around the world, specifically mentioning (and blaming) Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán and Brazilian President Bolsonaro. In reaction, the government’s communication, together with pro-government outlets, accuses the superstar actor of speaking from George Soros’ playbook.

In a lengthy interview, Clooney originally spoke of his iconic film roles. At one point when discussing the circumstances of the creation of the new post-apocalyptic movie he stars in, The Midnight Sky (to be released on December 23rd by Netflix), Clooney told GQ Magazine that the mood of the film was determined by the anger and hatred that can be experienced around the world.

“We weren’t in the middle of a pandemic when it happened, but there were still all these other elements, these elements of how much hate and anger all of us are experiencing at this moment in our history, all over the world. Go to Bolsonaro in Brazil, or Orbán in Hungary, or look around, lots of anger and hate…,” the movie star said. If this characterizes our world now, in 30 years, it could easily lead to a world in which the movie takes place (it is set in 2049), Clooney speculated.

Orbán gov’t reaction: Clooney is Soros’ friend

Both the government and pro-Fidesz media outlets immediately reacted to depict Clooney as George Soros‘ friend. It was first pro-Fidesz tabloid Origo who brought out a photo, showing Soros’ son Alexander with the actor.

While according to the reaction from the spokesman of the government information center (KTK), Örs Farkas, “there has been a dispute between George Soros and the Hungarian government over immigration for years, so George Soros uses all possibilities to attack the Hungarian government.

“It is quite disappointing that there are actors, even non-political actors, who carry out Soros’ political intentions.”

Fidesz MEP Tamás Deutsch also reacted to Clooney’s criticism. According to him, Clooney is an “imposter” who speaks “rubbish” about Hungary, a place that he couldn’t even find on the map not even by using Google Earth.

Democratic Coalition (DK) presidency member István Vágó, however, doubted Deutsch’s arguments given that Clooney’s wife is an internationally famed human rights lawyer who was born in Beirut (supposedly making her sensitive to the anti-migration campaign), and the couple live in Europe.

featured image via MTI/EPA/Giorgio Onorati

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George Clooney says Hungarian government lied about his connections to Soros

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By Tamas Szilagyi in Budapest November 24, 2020

Hollywood actor George Clooney issued a statement on Monday night saying that accusations by the Hungarian government and its media about his connections with Hungarian born billionaire and philanthrope George Soros are false.

The Hungarian government and its media have used Soros as a bogeyman and a scapegoat for years, accusing him of undermining Europe's security by promoting illegal immigration. Accusations of playing by Soros' playbook are often used in communications to discredit critics of the government.

Soros made his voice heard on the veto of the European budget and recovery fund by Hungary and Poland. In an opinion piece published on commentary portal Project Syndicate the 90-year-old said that Europe must stand up to Hungary and Poland and the EU can’t afford to compromise on the rule-of-law provisions it applies for the funds it allocates to member states.

On Friday, Orban went out in full force against Soros, calling him "the most corrupt man in international politics".

Over the years European leaders, MEPs and journalists have become accustomed to attacks by the Hungarian government when they criticised the deterioration of democratic values in the country but it is rather unusual for a country to unleash a communication offensive against someone of Clooney's calibre.

A couple of days ago the US film star, the recipient of three Golden Globe Awards and two Academy Awards, talked about his new film The Midnight Sky, of which he is also the director and the protagonist, in an interview with GQ magazine’s YouTube channel.

"The mood of the film was determined by how much anger and hatred everyone experienced around the world. We weren’t in the middle of a pandemic when it happened, but there were still all these other elements, these elements of how much hate and anger were sorts of all of us experiencing at this moment in our history, all over the world. Go to [President Jair] Bolsonaro in Brazil, or Orban in Hungary, or look around, lots of anger and hate…"

Pro-government media were quick to jump on Clooney's comments. Hungary's leading online site Origo.hu dug up a photo showing Soros’ son Alexander with the actor. Later on Monday, the spokesman of the government information centre issued the following statement: "There has been a dispute between George Soros and the Hungarian government over immigration for years, so George Soros uses all possibilities to attack the Hungarian government. It is quite disappointing that there are actors, even non-political actors, who carry out Soros’ political intentions."

One Fidesz MEP called Clooney an "imposter" who speaks "rubbish" about Hungary, a place that he "couldn’t find on the map even by using Google Earth".

The 59-year-old star struck back with a long statement that suggests he is more familiar with Hungary's politics than many would suspect.

Orban's propaganda machine is lying, he said, adding that he had met Soros through his agent once in his life at a UN meeting on the refugee crisis and bumped into his son at an event in Davos. "That's all the communication I have had with him," he wrote.

Clooney then defended Soros' philanthropic work. "He not only provides support to the poor and refugees, but also supported Orban with a scholarship during the change of regime, and the government also accepted support from him in the good old days when Orban opposed communism," he said. 

Indeed, Soros financed the Oxford scholarship of the young law student, a key figure of the Hungarian opposition, and other Fidesz politicians as well before the change of regime in 1988-1989. He financed today's ruling party, which at that time was a staunchly anti-Communist, liberal youth movement.
Media analysts say the government is set to lose the communication clash with Clooney. His comments about Orban drew the attention of people who had scant knowledge about Hungary's government or the country.

party animal - not! wrote:
Carol, I understand that both Hungary's and Poland's governments  are holding up the EU

budget plans since they have both decided to veto it because the EU have put in a human

rights clause.

(Being authoritarian governments they have decided to ban abortions amongst other laws).

Staggering to think that not so long ago their people fought to leave communist rule and the

Iron Curtain behind.

Soros always seems to be their chosen and easiest target.....

 

George Clooney in spat with Hungary’s Viktor Orbán

Actor said the Budapest government is an example of global ‘hate and anger.’

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George Clooney, left and Viktor Orbán

BY EMMA ANDERSON
November 24, 2020 8:54 pm


Hollywood actor George Clooney has become embroiled in a spat with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, after he criticized the Budapest government as an example of the “anger and hate” seen around the world.

In an interview with GQ published online last week, Clooney spoke about filming his upcoming sci-fi film “The Midnight Sky,” in which he plays a scientist in a post-apocalyptic world.

“We weren’t in the middle of a pandemic when it happened, but there were still all these other elements, you know, these elements of how much hate and anger we were sort of all of us experiencing at this moment in our history, all over the world. Go to [Jair] Bolsonaro in Brazil or Orbán in Hungary, or look around: lots of anger and hate,” said Clooney, who is married to human rights lawyer Amal Clooney.

“If you played it out, this [film] takes place in 2049, if you played it out 30 years, this could very well be what our reality is if that kind of hate is allowed to fester.”

Orbán’s government has now hit back, Reuters reported Tuesday, calling Clooney’s comments “foolish.”

“George Clooney is a good actor so deserves respect, but … nobody should treat him like a global political oracle,” foreign affairs spokesman Tamas Menczer told pro-Orbán news channel HirTV late on Monday. “He has people whispering in his ears.”

Government spokesman Ors Farkas also accused the actor of voicing the pro-immigration message of Hungarian-born U.S. liberal philanthropist and billionaire George Soros — a regular target of Orbán’s government.

Clooney said in a statement through an agent, shared with Hungarian media outlet Telex, that “the Orbán propaganda machine is lying, full stop,” adding he had met Soros just once and would be “ashamed” if he did not speak out publicly against “authoritarianism.”

Clooney said he had visited Hungary in the early 2000s and felt that at that point, the country was a “shining example” of democratic success after the fall of the Soviet Union. “I look forward to the day that Hungary embraces what it once was.”

Orbán’s government has long butted heads with the EU over what Brussels sees as democratic backsliding in his country. He is also currently in a standoff along with his Polish counterpart against other European leaders over plans to install a mechanism that would tie EU funds in certain circumstances to rule of law principles under the bloc’s next long-term budget.

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Through an agent, the actor released a statement to Hungarian news website Telex.hu late on Monday saying “the Orban propaganda machine is lying, full stop,” adding he had met George Soros only once.
“I would be ashamed if I were not on record for speaking out against the kind of authoritarianism (typical of) the Orban regime,” Clooney said in the statement.
“I was (in Hungary) in the early 2000’s and walked the boardwalk of the Danube. At that point Hungary was a shining example of democratic success... I look forward to the day that Hungary embraces what it once was.”

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[size=34]George Clooney is slammed by Hungarian press after accusing country's right-wing PM Viktor Orban of spreading 'hate and anger'[/size]

• Clooney criticised right-wing populists in a video interview with GQ, singling out Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro and Hungarian PM Viktor Orban
  
  
• Hungarian politicians labelled the actor an 'imbecile' an 'imposter' and 'foolish' 
  
  
• Pro-state media suggested Clooney was a mouthpiece for Hungarian-born US financier George Soros, a popular target of ire from the ruling Fidesz party
  
  

By CHARLOTTE MITCHELL FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 02:16, 26 November 2020


George Clooney has been targeted by pro-government media in Hungary after he accused Prime Minister Viktor Orban of spreading 'hate and anger'. 
The actor, 59, said the actions of right-wing populists worldwide could contribute to a global disaster on the scale of that which features in his new film The Midnight Sky.

'We weren't in the middle of a pandemic when [the film was shot], but there were still all these other elements, these elements of how much hate and anger all of us are experiencing in this moment of history, all over the world,' Clooney told GQ during a video interview to promote the film. 
'Go to [Jair] Bolsonaro in Brazil, or Orban in Hungary. Look around: lots of anger and hate,' he said, adding: '[The film] takes place in 2049. If you played it out this could very well be what our reality is if that kind of hate is allowed to fester.'
Politicians from Orban's ruling Fidesz party jumped to their leader's defence, branding Clooney an 'imbecile' and an 'imposter' and alleging that the actor couldn't even find Hungary on a map, The Times reported. 
Government-friendly newspapers also waded into the fray, implying that Clooney is a mouthpiece for Hungarian-born US financier George Soros, a popular bogeyman conjured up by Orban whenever he faces criticism.  
In the 1980s, Soros played a hand in toppling Hungary's Communist regime through funding scholarships for dissidents and establishing a pro-democracy charitable foundation in the country.
Under Orban, he has become a frequent target in his native Hungary over his support for refugees in Europe and other liberal issues. 
Orban's government launched a crude poster campaign against Soros in 2019, accusing the financier of working with then-EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker to weaken the country's borders by allow more migrants and refugees in. 
A similar anti-Soros campaign appeared in 2017. 
Orban founded Fidesz as a liberal party shortly before communism was overthrown but many of his policies have taken a sharp right turn since his second term as prime minister began inn 2010. 
He describes his anti-migrant, anti-LGBTQ+ stance - which saw Fidesz suspended from the ruling coalition in February 20202 - as 'illiberal democracy'. 
Tamas Menczer, a secretary of state and the Orban government's chief foreign policy spokesman, called Clooney's remarks 'foolish' and said the actor should not be seen as a 'global political oracle'.
Clooney has long been outspoken on political issues, which often feature in his work. 
In 2012 he was arrested during a protest in front of the Sudanese embassy and he is married to barrister Amal Clooney who has been involved in many prominent human rights cases internationally.   
MEP and founding member of Fidesz Tamas Deutsch took the criticism one step further, lambasting Clooney as an 'American imposter talking bulls*** about [our] homeland'.
A speculated link to Soros came after Origo, a popular pro-Fidesz news website, posted a photo of Clooney posing with one of the financier's sons, which provoked a government spokesperson to claim the actor was a mere mouthpiece for the billionaire. 
Clooney responded with a statement denying that he was under the influence of Soros, whom he praised, and doubling down on his previous criticism. 
'Orban's propaganda machine is lying,' Telex, an independent Hungarian news outlet, reported Clooney's statement as reading.
'As for my earlier remarks, I would be ashamed not to speak out publicly against the kind of authoritarianism with which the Orban regime controls the media, subjects companies to draconian tax rules and silences the free press.'
The statement also highlighted the fact that Orban himself had been a recipient of funding from Soros's organisation, which allowed the future leader to complete studies at Oxford University.