This Saturday, the same day that Europe Day will be celebrated in many European cities, there will be a Community Prime Minister who will be neither in Brussels nor in the capital of his country. Instead of commemorating the historic Schumann Declaration, which laid the foundations for the European Union, the Prime Minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, will be in Moscow to commemorate the victory of the Soviet army over Nazi Germany in World War II. He will be the only EU leader to travel to Russia during Vladimir Putin's major annual military display anniversary.

The defeat of Viktor Orbán in the elections of April 12 unleashed euphoria among a large part of the Hungarian population, but it also seems to have fanned the panic among a more select but powerful group of citizens of the Central European country. The oligarchs who have amassed large fortunes during Fidesz's 16 years in government fear that Péter Magyar's future government will fulfill the promise to end corruption and cronyism, and they will lose their fortunes and have begun to move money and other assets out of the country.

Hungary's legislative elections have marked a turning point both in the country and across Europe, with the end of sixteen years of Viktor Orbán's government. We analyze this with Hungarian political scientist András Bíró-Nagy, director of the think tank Policy Solutions and researcher at the Centre for Social Sciences in Budapest.

Donald Trump distanced himself this Wednesday from Viktor Orbán, three days after his resounding defeat in the legislative elections, and said he likes the president-elect, Péter Magyar, although he did not name him. "I think the new guy will do a good job," he said in an interview with ABC News. During the election campaign, the US president called on Hungarians to "get out and vote" for his friend. He even participated, remotely, in one of his rallies just a week ago. He did so with a call from the phone of his vice president, J.D. Vance, who traveled to Budapest to support the ultraconservative leader.

Not a single piece of paper on the ground. Budapest's cleaning crews have had a monumental task to clean up the aftermath of the euphoria unleashed this Sunday night after the victory of the opposition party Tisza. The streets of the Hungarian capital filled with spontaneous parties, national flags (some from the European Union) and thousands of exultant young people celebrating the fall of Viktor Orbán's government.

The legislative elections in Hungary are already historic before the results are known. After weeks of messages highlighting that these were decisive elections, the population has responded with massive participation. Preliminary data, corresponding to the count at 5 p.m., two hours before the polling stations close, show a participation of 74.23%. This figure is already higher than the total participation figure in all previous elections, since 1998. Until now, the highest participation had been recorded in 2002, when at the closing of the polling stations it stood at 70.5%.

The system that Viktor Orbán has tailored for himself over the last decade and a half has not been able to overcome the euphoria and hope for change generated by Péter Magyar. Tisza, the party that has managed to unite all opposition to the Fidesz government, has swept the legislative elections this Sunday. With almost all votes counted, the results project a Parliament with an absolute majority for Tisza, which would win 138 seats, meaning it would control two-thirds of the lower house. Fidesz would take 54 and the far-right party Our Homeland Movement, seven. In terms of vote percentage, Magyar secures 53% of the support, and Orbán 37%. An unmitigated and unprecedented defeat for Orbán, who has accepted the loss and congratulated his rival.

"They are prepared to do anything. Tomorrow a whole series of false flag operations are expected, coordinated with Russian agents, following their advice. We have precise information." The opposition leader in Hungary, Péter Magyar, made this statement on Saturday night during his last campaign rally. From the top of the stage he intended to amplify the concern that some of his followers have expressed in recent days before Sunday's elections, in which Viktor Orbán is fighting for the prime minister's seat., in which Viktor Orbán is fighting for the prime minister's seat.

Budapest woke up on Saturday with many fewer election posters on the city's lampposts. Intoxicated by euphoria (and beer), many young Hungarians took down as many propaganda panels as they could. All from Fidesz, the party of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Heroes' Square in the Hungarian capital and its surroundings were filled on Friday with Hungarians eager for political change in the country. On the enormous esplanade, and along the 700-meter tree-lined avenue leading to it, shouts against Orbán were repeated over and over, who this Sunday is risking everything in an election considered the most decisive since the fall of communism.

Large speaker towers, a stage, drones, screens and a multitude of staff and volunteers. Péter Magyar's rallies, just two years ago seemed organized with a shoe and a sandal. The stage was a pickup van with a microphone on the trailer. Now they have the appearance of a professional and well-resourced party that believes what the polls say ahead of Sunday's elections: that it could be the future governing party in Hungary.

Viktor Orbán is likely facing the most decisive week of his political career. After governing Hungary since 2010 with absolute majorities, for the first time he faces an opponent who could unseat him. Orbán, who is the longest-serving European leader, will contend for it this Sunday, April 12, with Péter Magyar, a defector from Fidesz, the ruling party, who has become the only opposition figure with a real chance of defeating Orbán.

Donald Trump has accustomed the world to paying attention to his social network. It was with a post on Truth Social, early Sunday morning, in which he announced that United States forces had managed to rescue alive the pilot who disappeared in Iran on Friday, after his plane was shot down. No official statement, no press conference, no images, no proof of the rescue. Only a message with the usual exaggerated rhetoric to glorify the US armed forces. "We got him back!", said the president, who added: "Over the past few hours, our military has carried out one of the most daring search and capture operations in United States history for one of our incredible members, who is a highly respected colonel, and I am delighted to let you know that he is now safe and sound!".

The United States suffered a significant blow this Friday in its war against Iran, when a fighter jet was shot down in the southwest of the country. Iranian state television first reported it, and later several North American media confirmed it, citing government sources. President Donald Trump reacted by saying that this will not affect the negotiations to end the war. "No, not at all; it's war. We are at war," he declared on a call with NBC.

There are still five months until the elections in Sweden, but the electoral machinery has already started to get underway. And this week there has been a relevant announcement that definitively breaks a historical taboo in the country. The leader of the conservative party (Moderate Party) and current prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, has made it even clearer that the far-right party Sweden Democrats is now considered as legitimate a partner as any other and will be part of the next government if the right-wing bloc wins. He announced this at a press conference accompanied by the leader of the Sweden Democrats, Jimmie Åkesson, who for the first time sees a real option for his party to have responsibilities at the highest level.

Péter Magyar burst onto the Hungarian political scene two years ago. He was an unknown, but in a very short time he rose up in a kind of messianic figureHe was the politician on whom all the hopes of those who dream of a Hungary without Viktor Orbán in power were pinned. Just two months after his party, Tisza, was registered as a political organization, it finished ahead of Fidesz, the prime minister's party, in the European elections. But back then, the big event, the Hungarian parliamentary elections, still seemed too far off, and there was an inevitable wariness of the newcomer among citizens and analysts. Now, less than a month before the elections, Péter Magyar has consolidated his position as a competitor on par with Viktor Orbán, who for the first time since 2010 faces a real possibility of losing the elections.

Most European allies are standing firm against Donald Trump and refusing to send a military mission to the Strait of Hormuz to keep it open. Following threats from the US president, who predicted a "very bad" future for NATO if European countries do not contribute, the majority of leaders of Europe's partners have spoken out against participation and are avoiding become more involved in the Iran war"This is not Europe's war," said the EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, at the press conference following Monday's European Union Foreign Affairs Council meeting. At the entrance to the ministerial meeting, Kallas herself had proposed creating a European Union mission or the United Nations to keep the Strait of Hormuz open. One of the options the EU leader had proposed is modifying and expanding an existing mission, known as Operation Aspides, which aims to protect vessels in the Red Sea from Houthi attacks. The former Estonian prime minister even claimed to have already spoken with UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

Vladimir Putin appears to be, for the moment, one of the biggest beneficiaries of the US and Israeli war against Iran. The US Treasury Department has announced that it will temporarily authorize the purchase of Russian oil currently in transit. In other words, Washington has issued a 30-day exemption from the sanctions that prevented the purchase of Russian hydrocarbons as punishment for the war in Ukraine. The measure aims to curb the surge in crude oil prices, which jumped more than 9% on Thursday after several days of increases. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent argued that allowing the tankers currently stuck at sea, unable to transport their crude, to move will help stabilize global energy markets. In a statement to X published hours after benchmark oil prices surpassed $100 per barrel, Bessent said the measure was "very tight" and "short-term" and would not provide a significant financial benefit to the Russian government.

The Strait of Hormuz has become one of the most volatile areas in the Middle East since the start of the Iran-Iraq War, but the events of the last few hours, with four cargo ships attacked, threaten a further escalation of hostilities at a strategic point for global hydrocarbon trade. Tehran warned that the bombing in this area will increase, while the United States also intensified its attacks on Iranian warships and threatened to use more force. On Wednesday, four ships were reported to have been hit by projectiles while in or near the Strait of Hormuz. They are Greek, Japanese, Thai, and Israeli-owned. These attacks bring the total number of commercial vessels targeted in the region since the United States and Israel launched their joint military operation against Iran on February 28 to 17, according to the UK Maritime Commercial Operations Agency (UKMTO), which oversees the safety of ships and seafarers worldwide.

The arguments put forward by the United States and Israel to justify the war against Iran since launching the joint operation on Saturday have been confusing and shifting. The main argument seemed to be the imperative need to prevent the Iranian regime from developing a nuclear bomb. But the announcement of the assassination of the supreme leader, Ali KhameneiOn Saturday, he already hinted that the objectives went further and that the goal was also—or perhaps primarily—regime change, something hardly surprising after the recent precedent of Venezuela. In the last few hours, Donald Trump has made this perfectly clear: he has argued that he himself must be "involved" in the selection of Iran's new supreme leader, "like with Delcy (Rodriguez) in Venezuela," and has said that "there will be no deal with Iran other than surrender."

The decisive joint military operation by the United States and Israel against Iran, which has once again plunged the Middle East into extreme uncertainty, has been met with a response from the ayatollahs' regime in the form of dozens of missiles fired at Israeli territory and US bases in the region. The world is watching the unfolding events closely. From a diplomatic standpoint, the degree of forcefulness of the reactions varies, although there is widespread concern about the danger of the situation worsening throughout this part of the world.