After 16 years of Viktor Orbán many voters are cautiously optimistic parliamentary election will bring change
A
s Fruzsi, 22, waited to cast her vote at a polling station in central Budapest, a note of optimism laced through her voice. “I think everyone is hopeful,” she said. “It feels like we might be writing history tonight.”
It was a hint of the heady mix of hope, anxiety, and fear being felt across the country as a record number of Hungarians turned up on Sunday to cast their ballots in the parliamentary election.
For the bulk of Fruzsi’s life, Viktor Orbán had been Hungary’s prime minister, using his past 16 years in power to transform the country into what he described as “a petri dish for illiberalism”.
