Zoltan Szalay
The Tisza government is poised to topple Orbán-era power brokers but a messy battle over Hungary’s presidency now risks dragging the Constitutional Court into a full-blown legitimacy crisis.
With hundreds of pro-Fidesz journalists laid off and state propaganda cash drying up, Hungarians could soon see a radically different media landscape—if independent outlets survive the coming financial squeeze.
In a political week that saw a Budapest Pride march without bans, a speaker cutting off her own prime minister mid-rant and Fidesz influencers mocked over air-con memes, the real drama is whether a single botched raid on a cash truck could finally topple Viktor Orbán’s myth of untouchability.
As Peter Magyar rams through his ‘Purgatory’ reforms to sideline Orbán’s old guard, he has also triggered warnings against his bid to eject the president.
Hungary’s new anti-corruption drive could not only unfreeze billions in EU funds but also expose how much public money was funnelled into loyalist foundations, private equity funds and friendly business empires over the past decade.
Hungary’s new prime minister is halving the job’s sky-high pay, pushing quasi-judicial inquiry committees and racing to clinch an EU cash deal – all while discovering he is no longer even his own party’s most popular face.
Budapest mayor Gergely Karácsony says Orbán’s system has “collapsed”, forcing Hungary to rebuild. He gives an insider’s view of Magyar and of Orbán’s €2bn ‘Castle’, while urging the EU to see its cities as strongholds of democracy.
Péter Magyar’s new government has moved with startling speed in its first days in office, combining symbolic political gestures with sweeping institutional changes aimed at dismantling key pillars of Viktor Orbán’s system. As ministers tour the extravagant interiors of the former regime, the new administration is promising transparency, legal reckoning and a rapid reorientation towards Europe.
Péter Magyar’s embrace of national symbols has unsettled critics at home and abroad, but his approach could signal a shift towards a more inclusive, less confrontational form of Hungarian patriotism.
In this edition of our weekly round-up of politics in Hungary: the unclear future of outgoing PM Viktor Orbán plus his plans to revitalise the Fidesz party, an unusual correction from the pro-Fidesz state media, and a deep dive into the new Tisza cabinet.
In just four days, Peter Magyar has already taken aim at state media structures, criticised senior institutional figures, and signalled a symbolic break with the past by relocating the prime minister’s office away from Viktor Orbán’s former power base, while the opposition has largely collapsed and the political map has been dramatically redrawn. Yet despite promises to restore democratic competition, early indications point to continuity in several nationalist policy areas, leaving Brussels watching closely to see whether Hungary’s reset will bring a meaningful shift in its EU stance or simply usher in a new domestic power configuration.
Hungary’s political landscape has been upended: after 16 years in power, Viktor Orbán’s system has collapsed following a landslide defeat. From the limits of propaganda and corruption to a resurgent independent press and a new generation of voters, 10 key lessons explain how a seemingly entrenched illiberal model unravelled — and what comes next for Hungary and Europe.
Independent polls favoured Magyar in the final stage of the campaign, but the result may be different due to the number of undecided voters.
László Mérő, the mathematician and psychologist turned public intellectual, says Fidesz’s rhetoric now echoes the language of the Third Reich and argues that the hatred shaping Hungarian politics has been consciously manufactured. In a wide-ranging interview, he reflects on Orbán’s transformation, the failures of the past 16 years, and why he believes the country could still change course.
Psychiatrist and writer Péter Hunčík argues that Viktor Orbán has transformed Hungary not only politically but psychologically, replacing civic autonomy with tribal loyalty, diffuse anxiety and a rewritten moral order. In this interview, he traces how power, myth, religion and fear have been used to remake both the state and society.
In an escalation of Hungary’s campaign against independent media, award-winning journalist Szabolcs Panyi has been accused of “espionage” following his investigations into the Budapest-Moscow hotline. In this exclusive interview, Panyi warns that the Orbán government is officially importing the “Putin model” to criminalise investigative reporting, turning national security into a tool of political theatre.
A whistleblower’s explosive testimony points to a covert operation targeting Hungary’s opposition — raising urgent questions about state power, intelligence agencies and the integrity of the upcoming election.
Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz needs fewer votes than the opposition Tisza party to stay in power, as the electoral system still favours the incumbent. In this article, we examine the most likely developments after the Hungarian elections on 12 April.
A leaked transcript of a 2020 phone call suggests Hungary’s foreign minister sought Moscow’s help to bolster a Slovak ally ahead of a pivotal election, raising fresh questions about Budapest’s ties to the Kremlin and deepening concerns within the EU over trust, influence and the handling of sensitive information.
In our regular digest of the week’s news from the Hungarian campaign trail: opinion polls, why Hungarian PM Orbán does not rule out deploying soldiers on the streets, claims Ukraine is financing the opposition Tisza party, and Tisza mobilises in the countryside.