May 7, 2026
Amy Brouillette
Former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán spent 16 years perfecting a model of media capture that aspiring autocrats around the world now seek to emulate. But his defeat showed that even vast propaganda machines are neither impermeable nor infallible in the face of a determined independent press.
BUDAPEST—Hungary’s recent election was a sharp rebuke of former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz party after 16 years of democratic erosion under his rule. Voters overwhelmingly rejected Orbán’s signature brand of “illiberal democracy,” embraced by aspiring autocrats around the world, in what amounted to a resounding reminder that change is still possible even when opposition appears hopeless.
