Departing PM Viktor Orbán admits ‘political era has ended’ as EU says ‘clock is ticking’ to resolve important issues
EU officials have arrived in Budapest for high-stakes talks aimed at reshaping the bloc’s strained relationship with Hungary, weeks before the new government takes office, as the country’s departing prime minister, Viktor Orbán, admitted a “political era has ended” and suggested he would stay on as leader of his party in his first interview since the election.
Speaking to the pro-government outlet Patrióta, Orbán described Sunday’s election as an “emotional rollercoaster” after the opposition Tisza party won a landslide victory, bringing an end to his 16 years in power.
Péter Magyar’s party won a supermajority, giving it the power to amend the constitution and potentially roll back key pillars of Orbán’s foray into “illiberal democracy”.
The scope of the loss has prompted questions over what lies ahead for Orbán, whose decades-long political career has been marked by his efforts since 2010 to steadily whittle away at the checks and balances that constrained his government’s power: rewriting election laws to its own benefit, manoeuvring to put loyalists in control of an estimated 80% of Hungary’s media and retooling the country’s judiciary.
