As Hungary went to the polls on April 12, the polls showed that Viktor Orban, who had been in power for sixteen years, was likely to lose. How large a loss he would suffer in the election was a question. Peter Magyar, the leader of the Tisza party, urged voters to continue to turn out. "Record turnout! The last minute and every vote counts," he wrote on X. "Please go vote, or if you've already done so, call up every acquaintance, friend, and relative you suspect hasn't gone yet! The regime is living its final hours; we stand at the threshold of systemic change. Let's step through it!"
When the day was over, it was clear the Magyar had won in a landslide. With some 98 percent of the vote counted by the morning, the BBC reported that Tisza was on course for 138 seats in parliament, against Orban's Fidesz, which won only 55. The election in Hungary has been closely watched across Europe and around the world. Days before the election, on April 7, US Vice President JD Vance traveled to Hungary. He gave a speech where he said that "what the United States and Hungary together represent under Viktor Orban and the President of the United States' leadership is the defense of Western civilization...the defense of the idea that we are founded on a certain Christian civilization and Christian values..." He also said "we want you to make a decision about your future with no outside forces pressuring you...The bureaucrats in Brussels, those people should not be listened to. Listen to your hearts, listen to your souls, and listen to the sovereignty of the Hungarian people." Vance said he loved Hungary and Orban. "He's a fantastic man. We've had a tremendous relationship, and he does a job. Remember this, he didn't allow people to storm your country and invade your country as other people have."
In Israel, the Minister of Diaspora and Combating Antisemitism, Amichai Chikli, wrote on X on April 11 that "Budapest under Viktor Orban is one of the safest capitals in Europe for Jews, and one of the very few where a Jew can walk to synagogue on Shabbat morning wearing a tallit and kippah without fear." He added, "As someone who has seen the sharp rise in antisemitism across Europe, I feel compelled to express deep gratitude for Viktor Orbán's courageous leadership. I wish him every success in the elections tomorrow."
A right-wing idol who defends Hungary from the West
Orban has become a cult-like figure for some in the world. They see him as a right-wing idol who supposedly defended Hungary and the "West." Many of the supporters of Orban abroad also oppose the European Union, and some of them oppose NATO. Many of those who felt drawn to Orban also tended to oppose Ukraine and Ukraine's leader, Volodymyr Zelensky. This was part of a worldview that tended to view Russia and Vladimir Putin in a positive light. For some reason, this worldview casts Putin and Orban as embodying the "West," while actual Western countries such as Spain, France, the UK, Italy, Germany, and Poland are seen as not embodying it.
This reversal of what is "western" among some in the world led them to create a kind of totem around Orban and his 16 years in power. They saw him, along with a handful of other leaders around the world, as part of a kind of imagined community of right-wing leaders. Who else was a member of this small and dwindling club was never clear.
The reality of what was going on in Hungary and the myth created abroad around Orban was always very different. Hungary's economy and other measures of success had generally stagnated. Hungary was falling behind other countries, such as Romania. This was surprising because Hungary is an important central European country that has played a key role in Europe for hundreds of years. As part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it was a major player, and also, Budapest was a center of European travel and culture. Even under the Communist yoke, Hungary rebelled in 1956 against the Soviets. It didn't gain freedom immediately, but, like Czechoslovakia in 1968, it became a symbol of how people would refuse to bend to the Communist-Soviet agenda.
Orban was born in 1963, and his political rise in the 1990s coincided with Eastern Europe's revolutions and the region's break from the Soviet orbit in 1989. Orban was, in those days, an example of the new hope for central and eastern Europe. He was outspoken about the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. He was elected to parliament in 1990 and became prime minister in 1998, serving for four years. He returned to office in 2010. Like many leaders, when they are first elected, he was an inspiring figure. However, he stagnated in his role, and what was once inspirational as a kind of right-leaning European brand of politics became more authoritarian and less inspirational. Some people view Hungary as a bulwark against the mass immigration some European countries have faced. For instance, Hungary opposed Germany's Angela Merkel's decision to open the borders to more than a million people in 2015.
That September, large numbers of migrants arrived in Greece. I traveled with them, covering this mass migration as people crossed from Greece into North Macedonia, then Serbia, and then tried to enter Hungary. Hungary closed its border with a fence, and I was there the day it was closed. I slept on the border with migrants. At the time, I believed Hungary was likely correct to enforce its border. In other countries, the migrants had been moved across illegally and undocumented with the collaboration of local authorities who simply opened up Europe. No migrants were checked or IDed. It was a chaos not befitting of modern European countries.
However, where Orban and Hungary were right in 2015, their overall policies were not always right. The bizarre obsession with opposing Ukraine has been shameful for Hungary. Ukraine is a victim of Russian aggression. There are no two sides to this fact. I also covered the conflict in Ukraine after 2014, traveling to the ceasefire line near Marinka in the Donbas. Marinka, a quiet Ukrainian town, is now razed and destroyed because of Russia. Any defender of the West and Europe would stand with Ukraine. It remains a mystery why Orban, who once spoke about the 1956 Revolution, did not see Ukraine as a friend.
What has been proven in Hungary is that one-man-one-party rule for too long does not lead to good results. Hungary is not the only country dealing with this. Russia went further in its authoritarianism than Hungary did. Turkey has also gone further in terms of arresting opposition figures and jailing them, as well as journalists. Hungary showed that it is a European democracy in electing a new ruler on April 12. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote, "heartiest congratulations to Mr. Peter Magyar and the Tisza Party on your resounding election victory. India and Hungary are bound by deep-rooted friendship, shared values, and enduring mutual respect.
I look forward to working closely with you to further strengthen our bilateral cooperation and to advance the vital India-EU Strategic Partnership for the shared prosperity and well-being of our peoples." India, the world's largest democracy, is embracing the future.
Not everyone is quick to embrace Magyar. However, there is much to admire in Magyar's victory. Magyar, born in 1981, was once a member of Orban's Fidesz. Magyar left the party and has now shown that Hungary demands new, younger leadership. Because he was born in 1981, Magyar represents the new generation. He grew up in an era free of the Soviet yoke. He understands the new Europe and its challenges.
The fact is that Europe today requires a lot of new leadership. The right wing that began to rise in many countries in the 1990s represented a rebellion against years of Social Democratic stagnation. This was true of the Freedom Party in Austria, the Northern League in Italy, or the National Front in France. It was true of many new types of populist parties and leaders, from Pim Fortuyn to Geert Wilders; from the True Finns to the Alternative for Germany and Sweden Democrats. Every country in Europe has seen its electoral landscape changed. But the Right and far-right have not always found success in governance. Orban was seen as an idol by some because he had risen to govern. However, too long in office took its toll. Hungary has shown the world that elections matter. The cult that formed around Orban abroad will likely whither. His brand of right-wing populism will be seen as hollow, especially as Magyar is expected to guide Hungary forward with the necessary vigor.