The elections in Hungary this Sunday, April 12, became something much more
than a national contest. After 16 years in power, Viktor Orbán faces his
greatest threat to date from Péter Magyar, a former member of the
Orbanist Fidesz, whose Tisza party has experienced a boom channeling discontent
due to corruption, economic stagnation and the deterioration of public services.
For many voters, especially young voters, voting has become a
referendum on a political regime that, according to its critics, has weakened
democratic controls and reinforced control over the media, the
institutions and the State.
The final stretch of the campaign has attracted influential figures from outside the country. He
American Vice President JD Vance arrived in Budapest days before the election, sided with Orbán, harshly criticized Brussels, and openly urged Hungarians to support Viktor Orbán.
Donald Trump, who had already publicly expressed his support for the prime minister,
added to the show over the phone during Vance’s speech. Orbán, for his part,
presented the contest as a civilizing struggle and called on Americans and Hungarians
to unite to save Western civilization.
This intervention accentuated the main contradiction of the campaign. Orbán and Vance
They accused the EU of interference in the conflict, while Washington was involved
one of the most explicit foreign endorsements ever seen in an election
Europeans.
The Hungarian leader has always benefited electorally from his confrontations with
Brussels, but this contest has also highlighted its closeness to Moscow. The
leaks of contacts with Russian officials, Hungary’s refusal to break its
Russian energy dependence and Orbán’s obstruction of EU aid to Ukraine have
intensified fears that Budapest has become the most useful ally of the
Kremlin within the bloc.
Magyar has presented the vote as an election on the geopolitical course of
Hungary: continue distancing itself from Europe or restart relations with Brussels and the
NATO. Even with the polls favoring the opposition, doubts persist about a
electoral board perceived as tilted towards Fidesz.
This race goes far beyond Budapest: if Magyar wins, Trump will feel it like
a defeat of our own and the gap with Europe could widen; If Orbán resists,
Brussels will have a pro-Trump ally in the heart of the continent.
@AlonsoTamez
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