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Tag: Hungary

When elections are managed: what Georgia and Hungary’s campaigns have in common

Ongoing electoral issues in both Georgia and Hungary display many clear sensibilities. While the mechanics affecting votes remain an important issue, it is necessary to highlight the varied means of coercion that also help maintain the power of the ruling party.

April 17, 2026 - Ana Tsitlidze

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

“Despite all the foreign policy grandstanding, Hungary is less sovereign today than it was a decade and a half ago”

An interview with Ferenc Laczó, assistant professor of history and co-editor of A Global History of Hungary. Interviewer: Emese Vig.

January 16, 2026 - Emese Vig Ferenc Laczó

“O Brother, Where Art Thou?” Azerbaijan-Hungary relations on the rise

Relations between Baku and Budapest have often been low-profile in nature. However, this appears to be changing at a rapid pace. Links in fields such as energy are now transforming Hungary into Azerbaijan’s key partner in the European Union.

October 30, 2025 - Rusif Huseynov

Ukraine and Moldova trapped by the Hungarian veto

During a recent meeting in Brussels, European ministers were unable to launch initial accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova. Budapest has been blocking any progress on the Ukrainian side, which risks dragging Chișinau into the deadlock. The EU-27 does not appear ready to separate the two countries’ accession, fearing that this would hand Viktor Orbán a political victory.

October 6, 2025 - Dušan Gajić

Inside Viktor Orbán’s worst political crisis yet

There is no sugar-coating it: after 15 years of unchecked power, Hungary’s Fidesz has plunged into its most severe political crisis yet. Worsening economic data, the rise of a far more potent opposition, and shifting international political trends have led to an unprecedented situation. For much of 2025, Fidesz has no longer been the strongest party. That position now belongs to the new challenger, Péter Magyar’s Tisza Party.

With parliamentary elections scheduled in Hungary for next year, it is now entirely possible, though still hard to believe, that the Viktor Orbán regime could come to an end. Yet the situation is far from simple. Orbán and his allies still possess overwhelming economic power and, crucially, continue to conduct precise polling on voter attitudes.

July 8, 2025 - Samu Czabán

Jetztzeit is now: democratic erosion from above, civic resistance from below

Ongoing protests across the Balkans and neighbouring countries are starting to look like a wider phenomenon. These demonstrations appear emblematic of a shared response to issues of democratic backsliding seen across the region.

April 24, 2025 - Marina Milić

Far from smooth, but successful. Slovak experience in settling the issue of national minority rights during the EU accession

An interview with Ábel Ravasz, a Slovak sociologist and politician of Hungarian nationality. Interviewer: Halyna Hychka.

February 28, 2025 - Ábel Ravasz Halyna Hychka

Hungary makes its mark at the World Nomad Games

The annual World Nomad Games is now challenging established western definitions of sport. As a result, it is interesting to note the strong Hungarian presence at these events. A pseudoscientific theory from the 19th century is now helping Budapest to pursue links with the East in more ways than one.

A group of men in ethnic garments stood in a row waiting for a sign to shoot, rays of early autumn sun falling on their sculpted shoulders. When the order came, they lifted their bows and shot at the shields in front of them, their arrows cutting through the air with unnatural speed. To the joy of his national team, the winner – a Hungarian called Làszlò Koczka – won the gold medal in traditional archery at 60 metres, a sweet victory here in Kazakhstan, a country famous for impeccable archers.

November 21, 2024 - Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska

How Viktor Orbán is going global

Within hours of assuming the presidency of the Council of the European Union, the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán paid a visit to Ukraine, Russia, China and the United States. In Orbán’s own words these meetings were a part of a “peace mission” that he had initiated to bring peace back to Europe and the world as soon as possible.

The phrase “Make Hungary Great Again,” or in Hungarian “ismét naggyá teszi Magyarországot,” from a passage in the Preamble (National Avowal of Faith) of the Hungarian Constitution, enacted in April 2011, has become the motto of the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the European Union. From July 1st 2024 until the end of this year, “Make Europe Great Again” is the official slogan of the council’s rotating presidency.

September 17, 2024 - Dominik Héjj

Collective security and national sovereignty. Hungary’s 25 years in NATO

In examining Hungary's involvement within NATO over the past 25 years, one should begin with how the country views NATO. While Budapest is honoured to be a member of this esteemed organization, it is crucial to understand why.

September 16, 2024 - Péter Stepper

Hungarian metamorphosis: from returning to Europe to occupying Brussels

Hungary joined the European Union 20 years ago and became a member of NATO 25 years ago. Yet, neither occasion has been officially commemorated by the Hungarian government. As Viktor Orbán geared up for this year’s European parliamentary election and the Hungarian EU Council presidency due to take place from July, he announced that he wants to “occupy Brussels”.

With today’s Hungarian government being one of the staunchest critics of the European Union, the memory of the country’s drive towards integration after regime change seems ever so distant. Still, joining the EU – as well as NATO – was one of the three key goals that underpinned Hungarian foreign policy throughout the 1990s and, except for the Eurosceptic extreme right’s objection, was supported by all political forces. The stages of the accession process itself reflected this broad political consensus.

June 22, 2024 - Zsuzsanna Végh

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