Hungary after Orban

Hungary under Viktor Orban was a model for the populist right the world over. But in April 2026 he and the party he led, Fidesz, was decisively defeated in an election that brought an end to his 16 years in power. In the six months since the election some of what Viktor Orban had institutionalised has been rolled back. The state-funded media is no longer under government control. Hungary has a new president, a former judge who had been peremptorily swept from office under the previous government. Hungary has recovered billions of Euros from the European Union withheld because of what it saw as democratic backsliding under Orban. There is a new policy towards Russia, in which the 2022 invasion of Ukraine is explicitly condemned. In early September Hungary expelled ten Russian diplomats accusing them of activities incompatible with their status, a move unthinkable under Viktor Orban.

(Photo: Supporters of the Tisza party wave the Hungarian flag composed of horizontal bands of red, white and green as they celebrate winning the Hungarian election. Credit: Jaap Arriens/Getty Images)

Presenter: Nick Thorpe
Producer: Tim Mansel
Sound engineer: Hal Haines
Production co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Series editor: Penny Murphy