Hungary’s return to democracy will be hard. But the impact of Péter Magyar’s decisive victory could be profound, inside the country and beyond
Zsuzsanna Szelényi
Programme director of the CEU Democracy Institute, and author of Tainted Democracy: Viktor Orbán and the Subversion of Hungary
“Europe! Europe! Europe!” That’s what tens of thousands of us chanted on the banks of the Danube on Sunday as Péter Magyar addressed the jubilant crowd. On a record turnout of 77%, Hungarians have delivered a political earthquake, giving Magyar’s Tisza party the first real opportunity in 16 years to dismantle the system built by Viktor Orbán.
In truth, the foundations of Fidesz had been cracking for some time. A 2024 political scandal exposed a deep moral collapse at the heart of his regime. It also shattered one of the central myths of his rule: that his political instincts were infallible.
