Be careful not to fall into the temptation of seeking analogies between Viktor Orbán's spectacular electoral defeat in Hungary and Rumen Radev's no less ostentatious victory in Bulgaria. The far-right leader of the Hungarian government has little to do with the former pilot and former head of the Bulgarian state. Radev is a populist, yes, but one who does not lose sight of his commitments to the European Union. Nevertheless, it is inevitable to point out that the Radev who will be invested as prime minister will not renounce his loyalty to Russia, a factor that may represent obstacles in community aid to Ukraine. A situation that invites, therefore, to wait and see.

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.

1. Steve Bannon, a prominent voice of Trumpism, said that Viktor Orbán is “one of the moral leaders of the world”. For now, this figure whom Trump felt so close to that he said they were “like twins” is licking his wounds from a crushing defeat. Tisza, Péter Magyar's party, will have an absolute majority with 138 seats, compared to Fidesz, Orbán's party, with 55. It is precisely the unexpected dimension of the failure that has made these elections an event.

The defeat of Viktor Orbán at the ballot box has a few losers. The end of the hitherto all-powerful Hungarian prime minister and the European Union's longest-serving leader is the result of a series of miscalculations and a widespread weariness with the excesses of clientelistic patronage in a country plagued by inflation, wage erosion, and chronic underinvestment in healthcare, education, and public services. Orbán got his message, his friends, and his enemies wrong. Economic discontent has prevailed over the discourse of fear and external threats.

Where is the new Hungary of the conservative democrat Péter Magyar heading? Towards a return to Europeanism (against Putin, against Trump, and against the far-right), towards the reconstruction of the rule of law (against authoritarian and illiberal policies), and towards respect for plurality and minorities (against hate speech targeting groups like the LGTBI+ or against the rejection of identity diversity represented by immigration).

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.

"‒I don't understand why my son has joined this strike. They have a job and a stable salary, what else do they want? If it were up to me, I'd send them all to prison. My son first."In these terms, Sári néni, Aunt Sári, expressed herself while putting her unbeatable pogácsa into the oven, small round and savory pastries made from a wheat flour dough cut with a round mold. Widespread as an accompaniment to hearty soups or as desserts throughout the European territory that was once the Ottoman Sultanate, the range of flavors is quite wide, but in today's Hungarian cuisine, the most popular are generally made with cracklings, cottage cheese, or potato.The surprising reflection referred to a strike that the country's railway workers began in December 2008 to demand a whole series of substantial improvements in their working conditions, which were very precarious at the time.In Europe, as in other parts of the world, there are times of manifest political radicalization, after the order that emerged at the end of World War II has taken its toll. In the Magyar country, this polarization is a seminal sin that dates back to the very creation of the first Kingdom of Hungary, one thousand and twenty-six years ago. Before adopting Christianity as the official religion, King Stephen, its founder in the year one thousand, had to defeat the army of his brother Koppány, a defender of paganism and traditional Magyar values. The country's most famous rock opera, István a Király, is based on this episode. In the current Republic of Hungary, democratic thought has never had the opportunity to show its face and manifest itself. Unlike all the nation-states that emerged from the ruins of Imperial Europe in 1918 (born as democracies and ending as dictatorships before World War II), in the new Hungarian state, a Soviet Republic led by Béla Kun, one of the founders of the Hungarian Communist Party, was immediately imposed. In such a turbulent period, a republic of these characteristics had its days numbered, exactly one hundred and thirty-three. The war with Romania at a time when everyone was fighting to impose their new borders on their neighbor forced Kun to flee to Austria a few hours before General Rusescu's troops entered Budapest.After another brief period of violent instability, power finally fell into the hands of Miklós Horthy, an old-school admiral who established a regime of evident fascist character for almost twenty-five years. Once World War II ended, during which Hungary gave unconditional support to Hitler until the penultimate moment, the communists once again took the reins of the country for more than four decades. In Hungary, the pendulum has never stopped halfway.The 1956 Revolution, the first uprising against a totalitarian socialist regime in the Soviet Bloc, did not aim to establish a liberal, parliamentary, and multiparty democracy. As explained by the Daily Mail journalist in Budapest, Duncan Shiels, in his magnificent The Rajk Brothers. A European Family Drama (Acantilado, 2009), when Júlia Rajk, the wife of László Rajk, a historic communist leader purged by the regime, arrived in the capital to meet with Imre Nagy, the leader of the revolution was horrified to see "the reactionary right so close to the prime minister. A crowd of petty nobles, who clicked their heels, used aristocratic language and behaved as if they were the masters of the world. Seeing all those men who embodied the ultraconservative pre-war regime jumping back into the fray was unbearable for her."

Good news arrived tonight from Hungary:Viktor Orbán has lost the elections. He has lost them clearly, because the opposition leader has won them with a resounding two-thirds absolute majority with the highest turnout in Hungary's recent democratic history; never before had so many people gone to vote since 1989 when the communist regime fell, meaning there was a desire to vote and a desire for change.The profile of the winner, Péter Magyar, is apparently contradictory: he worked for Orbán's government, but has been increasingly distancing himself until stating tonight that "the people of Hungary have said yes to Europe". And in Brussels there is euphoria, because although Hungary is a relatively small country (9 and a half million inhabitants), Orbán's Hungary was a kind of black sheep in the European Union for a double and powerful reason: it was the candidate of Putin and Trump. It has always opposed European sanctions on Russia, and as for Trump, Orbán was one of the European references for the American president, to the point that last week Vice President Vance went to Hungary to support Orbán in an electoral rally. That Trump's candidates lose in Europe, that going hand in hand with Trump detracts rather than adds, is a sign that people do not want wars like those in Iran that are making us more expensive and complicating our lives, as we explain on this page: the rising cost of fertilizers threatens the cost of food, and it turns out that the Persian Gulf countries are among the main producers.the rising cost of fertilizers threatens the cost of food, and it turns out that the Persian Gulf countries are among the main producers.By the way, the first round of peace talks with Iran ended in disagreement (as expected) and tonight Trump said he will block the Strait of Hormuz (which will prevent Iran from charging tolls to pass through it), which in essence is an acknowledgment that he cannot open it. And since he does everything in bulk, this morning he attacked Pope Leo XIV in one of those on-the-fly responses, saying that the Pope is

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.

A figurehead and ally of Putin and Trump in Europe, and a key figure of the anti-European and anti-immigration continental far-right, Viktor Orbán is much more than a nuisance to the European Union: he is the internal enemy who has called into question the EU's foundational values and short-circuited its system of unanimous governance. His eventual defeat at the polls this Sunday would therefore mean a respite and an injection of pro-European confidence, both to make Russia's support for Ukraine clear, to show the US president the limits of his influence on the Old Continent, and, thirdly, to deflate the far-right's rise.

The parade of far-right leaders through Hungary in recent weeks has been worthy of a superpower. In 16 years, Viktor Orbán has turned a country that represents less than 1% of the European GDP into a bulwark of global ultraconservatism. The latest visit, that of the Vice President of the United States, J.D. Vance, demonstrates the nervousness of leaders who know that in Budapest they are not only playing for a government, but a key battle for discourse.

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.

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.

The EU is going through difficult times, with two powerful enemies closing in and trying to undermine its autonomy in every area. One is Vladimir Putin's Russia, which, since the invasion of Ukraine, has not stopped threatening the European space, even militarily. The other is Trump and his administration, who have not stopped showing contempt for the EU and threatening it economically and even militarily, despite being historical allies. And, as if that weren't enough, there are the internal enemies, the main one being, and this is not too surprising, Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian prime minister, who has not stopped throwing a wrench in the works of EU initiatives, especially those related to European support for Volodymyr Zelensky's Ukraine.

Giant images of Volodymyr Zelensky fill billboards during the election campaign in Hungary. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has decided to turn the general elections on April 12 into a referendum on the war in Ukraine and, in doing so, fuel the war psychosis that already guaranteed him a strong majority in 2022. The Fidesz leader has been in power for sixteen uninterrupted years, built on assumptions about the future. Since 2010, Orbán and his party—which has become a benchmark for the transatlantic far right—have managed to construct a vast partisan media ecosystem, at the heart of which is the National Communications Office, under the prime minister's watchful eye. Billions of euros invested in communication campaigns and a coordinated social media strategy are complemented by the creation of grassroots activist movements that amplify the arguments, theories, and accusations dictated by Fidesz.