Fidesz

After 16 years, illiberalism fell in Hungary. The markets predicted it while Fidesz pollsters and politicians were blindsided, proving yet again that free markets are better than government control.

What is the expected outcome of the upcoming parliamentary election in Hungary? What are opposition leader Péter Magyar\'s chances of winning? Will this be the end of the Orbán-era? Will there be any attempts at rigging the election?

The two front-runner parties, the long-time governing Fidesz-KDNP, and the newcomer Tisza Party, will surely have a great presence in Parliament, but aside from the far-right Our Homeland party, other opposition groups have either withdrawn or hope to pass the 5% entry threshold.

In 2016, Viktor Orbán made a risky move. The prime minister’s July endorsement of Donald Trump might have come as a surprise given the obvious ideological affinity between the two leaders, but Orbán was the first head of state to openly back the American president when Hillary Clinton was still considered as the favorite for the White House.

Facebook warriors, digital civic circles, and who knows what other groups will lead Fidesz\'s campaign ahead of the 2026 elections. But why has the ruling party turned to these tools now, and what results can it expect from them?

In Hungary, FIDESZ-KDNP has been ruling the country with a two-thirds constitutional majority since 2010, now for 15 years. Under Orbán’s regime, there is a particular focus on the country’s media landscape and the crisis of its credibility. It is no exaggeration to state that the public media is effectively under political control and has lost its legitimacy.

Despite the increasing international prominence of mayors and municipal networks, local governments across Europe face numerous challenges. In the UK, local councils lack the resources to fulfill their extensive responsibilities, while in France, attempts at decentralization have been hindered by a lack of clarity over the distribution of responsibilities and a relatively high degree of central government interference.

In February 2024, Hungarian public life, previously marked by apathy, underwent a dramatic shift. A political scandal that reached the highest levels of government awakened Hungarian society. This rapid change reshaped Hungary\'s political landscape within a few months and significantly shifted voter preferences. The party system was not spared from this rapid transformation either, and it can be clearly illustrated through Sartori’s party typology.

Employment policy has been crucial to the success of Fidesz, Hungary\'s governing party since 2010. Their so-called \'work-based society\', which has led to skyrocketing employment rates, combined with a lack of political alternatives, has made poor, geographically isolated, ethnically diverse regions much more likely to vote for Fidesz.

If you have lived in Hungary in the last 10 years, you sure have gotten used to living with the constant presence of fear by now. We are afraid of Soros, afraid of the Brussels bureaucrats threatening our sovereignty, afraid of the \"pro-war liberals\" and most importantly, we are afraid of \"migrants\". There were several enemies introduced to the Hungarian population by the governing Fidesz-KDNP party alliance, including \"migrants\".