'Soros scare' tactics will wane for European populists

Subject

Attacks on George Soros in Central-Eastern European states.

Significance

Wealthy Hungarian-US financier and philanthropist George Soros has recently become instrumentalised by Central-Eastern European (CEE) politicians who present him as the symbol of a remote, non-native amd illegitimate elite. In part because of the anti-Soros campaign, opposition to liberal ideas and globalisation and broader rhetorical and administrative attacks on dissent are fast becoming mainstream in CEE countries.

Impacts

• The rise of illiberal politics in CEE will deepen existing divisions within the EU and hinder further integration.
• Anti-Soros mobilisation in CEE furthers Russia’s strategic goal of undermining Western cohesion.
• As philanthropy comes under attack, East European civil society groups are likely to suffer, further weakening young democracies.