After 16 years in power, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been voted out — so now what?
Orban’s government reshaped Hungary’s institutions, challenged the European Union, and positioned itself as a model for parts of the populist right in Europe and the United States. But in an interview with Independence Avenue Media, Dalibor Rohac, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, says reshaping Hungary may not happen overnight.
Magyar will have to “undo the gradual colonization of the Hungarian state by the Fidesz party and Orban loyalists,” he says. “It’s true of the public administration, but it’s also true of the media, it’s true of the courts, it’s true of just many layers of political power, sometimes subtle soft power in Hungary. So I think that is actually not a task for four years. I think that’s more of a generational challenge to see how Hungary can deal with that legacy.”
Orban’s defeat also raises immediate questions about what comes next outside of Hungary — for the EU and Ukraine, and for governments in countries like Georgia, which Rohac says have sought to emulate his approach.
“I think both the MAGA movement and the Kremlin will try to look for other partners once they can’t count on Budapest,” says Rohac. “But whether Georgia is important enough to play the role, I think that’s far from obvious.”
