Orbán tried to reframe the election around geopolitics, parading his friendships with Trump and Putin – but that backfired.

The 2026 Hungarian parliamentary election marked a significant turning point in the country's relationship with the European Union. The victory of Péter Magyar and the Tisza Party signaled a potential departure from the governance model that had characterized Hungary's political landscape for over a decade. Observers have suggested that the new administration's stated commitment to strengthening democratic institutions, enhancing judicial independence, and addressing corrupti

Orbán began vilifying the EU, often comparing Brussels to the Soviet Union, even while receiving massive amounts of EU money, and resisting pressure to reverse democratic backsliding. From 2014 until 2022, Hungary was one of the biggest beneficiaries of EU funds. Orbán could navigate the EU system really well: get all the money and get away with his political shenanigans. https://apnews.com/article/hungary-orban-eu-elections-reforms-brussels-budapest-69868c03330a50c679050bf58

Further evidence is emerging of direct collaboration between members of the Hungarian government and the Kremlin regime. I spoke to the Polish centre-left weekly news magazine ont he chances for regime-change in Hungary. https://www.polityka.pl/tygodnikpolityka/swiat/2337781,1,orbn-przelicytowal-i-szuka-ratunku-kolejne-rewelacje-o-zwiazkach-rzadu-wegier-i-moskwy.read

A series examining higher education under the Trump administration raises the question: why Orbán and Trump have targeted higher education. The Boston-based online newspaper talks to various experts and those professors, who have personally experienced these attacks. https://www.masslive.com/news/2025/12/sand-in-the-gears-what-mass-can-learn-from-the-higher-ed-crackdown-inspiring-trump.html?gift=39bb7cab-fbc4-4534-b94f-bdbf53af7867

"Scholars need to prepare students with emotional skills and not only with technical skills to survive the job market" Interactive workshop on the theme: „Centering the human experience”

How the Orbán regime destroyed the institutional self-defence mechanisms of the working class, including the deliberate fragmentation of trade unions, in some cases their partial co-optation, and an overall repression of labour rights and workers’ ability to organise. https://www.equaltimes.org/trade-unions-in-the-long-shadow-of?lang=en

Netanyahu visits Hungary. EU 'deeply regrets' decision as Prime Minister Viktor Orban refuses to enforce arrest warrant for Israeli leader. Discussion in the UAE’s flagship international outlet. https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/europe/2025/04/03/hungary-to-withdraw-from-international-criminal-court-as-netanyahu-visits/

During his campaign, Donald Trump and his Republican Party promised to transform American democracy into an autocracy. The United States' peculiar electoral system allowed his proposal to succeed. His margin of victory was very narrow in both the popular vote (which is not decisive) and the Electoral College (which is decisive). https://www.elnuevodia.com/opinion/con-acento-propio/la-autocracia-trompista-triunfante/?templateId=OT3HWJU9FRSI&templateVariantId=OTB2HAZL1TSY&exper

„You can’t protect democracy if you’re not offering a really inclusive social and economic agenda." I’m a huge supporter of liberal democracy and institutions, but you can’t really protect those cherished liberal institutions by just talking about how important it is to have a constitutional court and how important media pluralism is. The overwhelming majority of people don’t really think in these terms. They are concerned about inflation and real wages and unemployment and i