The Budapest Protocol (22 page)

From: Voter

To: Head of Threat Assessment and Analysis Department

Cc: Head of Counter-Intelligence Directorate

1. Attention is respectfully drawn to the fact this agent’s despatches have just been upgraded from ‘Secret’ to ‘Top Secret’. This task and the information gained are highly delicate with possible ramifications at the highest level of national security, and the contents of this report should be handled with the utmost discretion, especially considering the increasing links between the government of ATTILA HUNKALFFY and FRANK SANZLERMANN’s campaign staff.

2. This agent’s report is based on material he has gathered first hand, from his own conversations and gleanings. The facts contained are not just based on talking with named individuals, but also on his personal examination of documents, emails, letters and passports. A list of names and relevant business organisations is attached as ‘Appendix A’. Where material has been indirectly learnt it has been marked with a *.

3. Before proceeding, it is necessary to briefly restate the current political and diplomatic context of developments in post-communist Europe. Despite the rhetoric about returning the former Soviet bloc to the ‘common family home’ the reality is very different. There is growing resentment and disillusionment across western Europe at the costs of subsidising the fifteen new members. There is widespread anger that organised crime syndicates have retained their power and are linked to, and cooperate, with several governments. Ministers and senior police officers in accession countries are implicated in continent-wide networks smuggling women, drugs and even weapons from the Balkans to western Europe. Corruption is widespread and apparently unstoppable. Early enthusiasm to reform and modernise the accession countries has evaporated. Instead western governments are increasingly focused on the terrorist attacks by the Immigration Liberation Army, and their domestic political fall-out. The ever-louder calls for a ‘crackdown’ on illegal immigration and asylum seekers, means that little attention is given in Brussels and Strasbourg to political developments in the new member countries. Within this context, this agent believes he does not exaggerate when he says that a victory for FRANK SANZLERMANN in the coming election for European President, combined with the continuing administration of ATTILA HUNKALFFY, poses a substantial threat to national security and Hungary’s continuing economic independence.

She rubbed her eyes, and read through the paragraph again, this time more slowly.

4. ATTILA HUNKALFFY appears to be seen by the SANZLERMANN campaign as some kind of agent-in-place. It is unclear how much, if any, genuine autonomy he exercises. Concurrent with FRANK SANZLERMANN’S election campaign a parallel strategy seems to be operating on four, possibly more, fronts at once in Hungary. This closely follows the pattern of events in Croatia, Slovakia and Romania, the wartime allies of Nazi Germany, where far-right governments have taken power. These fronts are: manipulating public opinion through control of the media, especially television, and, increasingly, websites; the sustained weakening of already shaky independent institutions such as Parliament, the police and judiciary; the use of violence against minorities to engender feelings of insecurity; widespread corruption, and a collapse in the value of the national currency (caused in part by the previous four steps) which opens the door for foreign investors to buy up national assets at prices far below their market value.

The strategy can be summarised as: Psychological/Media; Anti-Minority Actions; Police/Judiciary and Economy. All areas are interlinked. (It will of course be appreciated that many agents fall victim to self-projection and present their observations in a form intended to direct the reader to a certain conclusion. But I hope it is understood that this agent is concerned merely to present what he has discovered, rather than trying to draw premature and erroneous conclusions from this, or any other report.)

“Voter, you are one of the most pompous people I have ever encountered,” said Cassandra out loud. What you want to say, she thought, is that you don’t know what it all means yet, but then neither do I. She read on.

5. A breakdown follows of the four areas. The recently-launched Pannonia Brigade is of particular interest. As the general economic and political situation deteriorates, Hungarian society seeks a scapegoat. Traditionally, this has been the Jews. However since Hungary’s accession to the European Union and subsequent growth of a young, more modern-minded middle-class, open anti-Semitism is no longer politically acceptable. There are few such constraints though with regard to the Roma. The Pannonia Brigade, which appears to be financed by émigré groups in South America, Germany and Austria, is focusing on what it describes as ‘Gypsy crime’. Its choice of uniform, the traditional Hussars’ costume, is psychologically masterful. The black outfits have a sufficiently militaristic feel, but are also part of Hungary’s traditional dress, and so place the Pannonia Brigade firmly within the mainstream ‘national community’. The subtext is that all ‘true Hungarians’ should be protesting against ‘Gypsy crime’ and that violence is a legitimate form of national self-defence. The violence against the Roma serves a dual purpose: it engenders feelings of insecurity in the wider population, that state institutions can no longer protect society, but paradoxically, also makes them feel more secure, as non-Roma Hungarians are not being targeted.

The precise strategic relationship between these four areas and FRANK SANZLERMANN’S election campaign is so far unclear, but there are strong linkages of personnel, interests and financial backers.

She flicked through to the appendix. Sanzlermann’s campaign was funded by numerous titans of German industry including of course, KZX Industries and the Volkstern Corporation. Hunkalffy had not heeded her warning about KZX buying a controlling stake in the Hungarian pharmaceutical industry, and was allowing the buy-out to go ahead. But was ‘Voter’ serious? Was he credible? She walked over to the window, and looked at the Danube. A barge moved slowly downstream, laded with coal, black as the night-time waters. She caught site of her reflection in the glass. Her blond hair was lank, dark shadows ringed her eyes. She poured herself some more coffee before returning to her desk. This would have be to flagged ‘urgent’. She turned back the pages, to the detailed breakdown dealing with the media.

The use of the media is of prime importance. Ultra-nationalist websites such as pannoniabrigade.hu publish the names, telephone numbers and home addresses of political opponents. They organise ‘flash-mobs’, instant demonstrations, which frequently result in violence. The state media adopts more subtle tactics, such as the increasing number of stories about Israelis and property acquisition. Coded anti-Semitism, disguised as anti-Israel propaganda, is steadily increasing, through the use of terms such as the ‘New York-Tel Aviv Axis’, ‘rootless cosmopolitans’, media outrage over the ‘blood-price’ exacted by the Israeli army on its military operations, and increasing comparisons between the Hungarians and the Palestinians – meaning that Israelis/Jews are forcing the Magyars from their ancient homeland.

Such language and terms speak to an “underground community of the mind”, that is, people who share values which are no longer acceptable in public discourse, but are still strongly held. The coded terminology is part of the campaign’s ‘psy-ops’ or psychological operations. The language increases nervousness among those opposed to ATTILA HUNKALFFY. Another tactic is not to deny the Holocaust, but to minimise it, and blame the Nazi genocide on a regime long vanished, of little relevance to the present day. At the same time, extremist leaders such as ISTVAN MATONHELY are frequent guests on chat-shows and news programmes. Their views are never challenged by the journalists, but are accepted as part of the political mainstream, thus ‘de-stigmatising’ and legitimising the politics of hate.

This agent has discovered that LASZLO KENGODON, a Hungarian psychologist of Jewish background, has been charged with responsibility for psy-ops. KENGODON was briefly married to an Israeli medical student who left him and returned home, which seems to have triggered a violent psychological reaction, verging on self-hatred. He has been warmly welcomed as a ‘Court Jew’, who provides a useful alibi against charges of anti-Semitism. KENGODON is a close associate of BALAZS NOLUDI, who is a media advisor to ATTILA HUNKALFFY, and editor of
Ébredjetek Magyarok
! KENGODON uses his knowledge of Jewish history and culture to create as much havoc as possible. For example: KENGODON holds training sessions where he teaches young activists basic Hebrew. These groups are then despatched around the country to small towns and villages that were once home to Jewish communities. They pose as Israelis and march around the local streets, ringing doorbells and making loud and aggressive enquiries about property ownership. Local journalists are tipped off about their arrival, ensuring substantial media coverage. The pseudo-Israelis cause profound unease, especially as tens of thousands of homes, factories and other buildings were simply appropriated once the former owners were sent to the camps.

Cassandra flicked through to the end of the report before she put it down. There were another forty points, spread over seventeen pages. She lit another cigarette. It was going to be a long night.

Alex strode into the
Budapest News
editorial office full of optimism and good cheer. It was Friday morning, a few minutes before 11.00am and the newspaper’s weekly meeting. The editorial floor was usually crowded with reporters, designers and advertising staff, cracking jokes and taking friendly enjoyment in finding the tiny errors that inevitably crept into every issue. Alex was looking forward to taking the staff out for a celebratory drink after work to toast Natasha’s scoop and to start the weekend. Which was why the tense, nervous atmosphere was even more puzzling. His ‘Good morning’ dried in his throat as he walked through the room.

Heads were bowed over computers, and the office was almost silent apart from the occasional click of a keyboard. Euan Braithwaite, a strapping former Rugby player from Hebden Bridge, who had recently joined the staff as sports editor, caught Alex’s eye and shook his head. There was no music playing in the design department, and Ronald Worthington’s office was dark and closed. Alex stepped inside the conference room. George Smith was the only person there, sitting in Ronald’s chair. A copy of that week’s paper lay on the table in front of him, with several paragraphs of Natasha’s interview with Sanzlermann heavily marked in red ink.

“You’re late,” Smith snapped, his blue pin-striped shirt covered with a liberal sprinkling of crumbs from a bag of croissants.

“Where is everybody?” asked Alex, sitting down opposite him.

“Busy working, where they should be,” he said, starting on a slab of sticky chocolate cake, and noisily slurping coffee from a familiar-looking mug. It was blue, with a picture of a dog jumping for a ball.

“Isn’t that Ronald’s? Where is he?”

Smith looked at the mug. “Ronald’s in his room. London has made some changes.”

“What changes?” Alex asked.

Smith wiped his hand across the back of his mouth and pushed a sheet of paper across the table at Alex. It was a joint press release from the Volkstern Corporation headquarters in Munich, and the
Sentinel’s
head office in London, dated that morning. After many months of long negotiations the Volkstern Group was pleased to announce the launch of a new strategic partnership with
Sentinel
Newspapers. New opportunities, expanding market, and so on. And then the meat: while every effort would be made to safeguard the editorial independence of the group’s media, some structural re-organisation and re-orientation would be inevitable, in light of the new economic reality, and the Group’s financial interests.

Alex felt sick as he looked at the paper. How could this have been planned for so long? He hadn’t heard anything on the grapevine. Several of his emails back to London, he suddenly remembered, had gone unanswered. He assumed his friends had been away or too busy to reply quickly. Maybe they were away for good. This was a disaster. New economic reality, he knew, meant PR fluff for favoured advertisers.

“No wonder everyone looks so gloomy outside. I didn’t know about this.”

“Well, you’re not much of a reporter are you? You’ve been working for this company for long enough. I made an announcement to the staff. You would have heard it if you were here on time.” said Smith, brushing crumbs from his hair. “I want to talk to you about this,” he added, tapping his finger on the front page of that week’s issue.

“Yes, we did well there. It’s all over the world. Civil rights groups are up in arms.”

“We are not a PR organisation for troublemakers. This is a very unbalanced article, giving a totally one-sided view of Europe’s best hope for the future.”

“No, it’s not. It’s an accurately reported interview. You can read the transcript on the website. I’m sorry you feel like that, but Ronald is the editor, and he has the last word,” said Alex.

Smith smiled malevolently. “The article and the interview transcript have been removed from the website. And Worthington is no longer the editor,” he said, pushing another sheet of paper across the table. It announced Smith’s appointment as Group Editor in Chief of the new
Sentinel
-Volkstern regional publishing group, including the
Budapest News
. Sister newspapers were planned for Zagreb, Bratislava and Bucharest. Ronald Worthington, it noted, congratulated Smith on his appointment. His new role was ‘special projects editor’, overseeing the launch of a series of supplements on consumer lifestyles, starting with health clubs and gyms.

“And what’s my new job?” Alex asked.

“You don’t have one. You leaked company material to an international news agency. You’ve got half an hour to clear your desk. And don’t come back.”