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When comfort outweighs democracy

Viktor Orbán’s dominance rests not only on power politics, but also on memory. By mobilizing fear, promising protection, and offering small but symbolically charged material rewards, Fidesz has revived a political logic familiar from the Kádár era – one in which security matters more than participation and comfort outweighs democracy. As Hungary approaches another electoral cycle, the question is no longer whether nostalgia still works, but whether it is finally losing its grip.

February 23, 2026 - Andrea Schmidt - AnalysisIssue 1-2 2026Magazine

Viktor Orbán is a politician expected to do more than merely replicate the role of a new Janos Kádár. At the core of his system lies an inseparable alliance between a centralized state and its loyal subjects. Photo: photoibo / Shutterstock

“You are great, my people, you are great, my people: for a thousand years you have lived in constant struggle with Europe, gathering troops while bleeding. But you did not allow this idea to prevail in the minds of your children, and so you live in the heart of Europe as a living protest against the dehumanization of animal life.”

These were the words written by Endre Ady, one of Hungary’s most influential early 20th century poets and journalists, in his essay “To the Margin of an Unknown Corvin Codex”. In another, better-known metaphor, Ady described Hungary as a ferryboat endlessly drifting between two ports – East and West – capturing the country’s enduring sense of political and cultural “in-betweenness” and its unresolved debate over whether Hungary truly belonged to modern Europe.

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