Who are a-la-carte voters and what role do they play in an election? Why does Péter Magyar want to get them at all costs, and why does Fidesz want to keep them? István Hangácsi’s analysis.

Will Hungary break free of its current political trajectory, or will history repeat itself? Róbert Kiss explores overlooked aspects of the opposition narrative.

Hungarian politics has been dominated by Fidesz for 15 years. Gergely Rajnai’s analysis explains why the challenge of the emerging Tisza Party might push Hungary towards a two-party system.

It is a common misconception that racism and xenophobia are to blame for the rise of populism in Europe, Julia Lakatos’s analysis points to a double representation gap as an alternative explanation.

Hungary does not have a tradition of early elections.The demand for them is nevertheless high. Zoltán Novák’s analysis on why this topic dominated public discourse at the beginning of the year.

In the 1950s, the newly uniting Europe had strong ideals. Nowadays, it is difficult to define what a united Europe means. Ervin Csizmadia’s analysis.

Why is education crucial in building a democratic country? Róbert Kiss’s analysis highlights the essential role of education in strengthening democratic norms, using the example of a new Hungarian film to explore these issues.

What can the Hungarian government expect from a second Trump presidency? Analysis by Gergely Rajnai attempts to find answers to that question drawing from what Trump did after his victory and how the first Trump administration handled relations with Hungary.

A new party, Tisza, has approached Fidesz in the opinion polls. The party’s fast rise to fame is not just due to the fatigue of pro-government voters, but to the return of domestic politics in political messaging.

Hungary’s Prime Minister feels that the prospects of European autonomy are bleak, therefore the competitiveness of the Hungarian economy can only be improved through an independent policy. According to Viktor Orbán, this is the path of neutrality.

Every dominant party falls from power, the question is when and how? Ervin Csizmadia writes about the power of learning from the opponent.

Julia Lakatos spoke about the causes of the high voter turnout at the EP and municipal elections in Telex‘s live election coverage.

Why do historical patterns keep reappearing in the present and why is it that theories of populism cannot give adequate explanations for this? A summary of Ervin Csizmadia’s new book.

Andras Jenei spoke about the risks and opportunities in the Western Balkans at the 2024 Budapest Balkans Forum organized by the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs.

Ervin Csizmadia’s new book, The Logic of Hungarian Political Development (1990-2022): Hungarian Political Perspectives is now available online and at bookstores worldwide.

Gergely Rajnai analyzed Viktor Orbán’s foreign policy approach on Al Jazeera’s Newshour.

The Unpopulist magazine published Magyar Hang’s compilation of Fidesz fanatics, in which Ádám Paár explained that for many voters, belonging to the party is like a sports club: identity matters.

The fact that the Hungarian opposition was not able to win elections for the past twelve years makes it unique within East-Central Europe. But why is the opposition so weak, and what are its possibilities for the future? Ervin Csizmadia’s analysis.

Talking to Al Jazeera, Gergely Rajnai described the foreign policy of Viktor Orbán as attempting to bridge the gap between East and West, but noted that the war in Ukraine makes this approach less and less tenable.

The 2022 Hungarian elections ended with an unexpected twist. Fidesz not only hung on to its majority but managed to receive a 2/3 supermajority for the fourth consecutive time. CFPA’s analysis of the outcome.

Zoltán Novák spoke to Reuters about the expectations of Fidesz following their fourth consecutive supermajority.

How will the war and the state of the economy influence the elections? Gergely Rajnai spoke to Canadian news source about these issues.

Julia Lakatos spoke to L’Echo about the innovations and the challenges of the oppositions as well as why the government is popular among many.

Gergely Rajnai spoke to ARD about the effects of the Ukraine conflict on Hungarian elections.

Why has the same party won elections in Hungary for more than 12 years? CFPA’s new book looks at this question from a comparative and a historical perspective.

Julia Lakatos spoke to Radio Free Europe about the reasons why the opposition parties rallied behind a conservative major to run against Viktor Orbán.

Gergely Rajnai spoke to Le Figaro, emphasizing that primaries are a novelty in Hungarian political culture, therefore all the actors involved have to learn how to take part in the process.

The Hungarian opposition has taken a great leap towards its renewal with the introduction of the primary election. The question remains however, whether a new system of selection will be enough to find a winning candidate against Viktor Orbán.

Financial Times quoted Zoltán Novák concerning the chances for the opposition during the upcoming campaign. While everything suggests a Fidesz advantage, the challenge has never been greater, he said.

Zoltán Novák spoke to Reuters about Viktor Orbán’s referendum plan.

Zoltán Novák spoke to the Slovakian newspaper Dennik N about the characteristics of the participants of the opposition primary.

Zoltán Novák spoke to Reuters about the possible new Italian, Polish, Hungarian alliance within the EU, highlighting that despite their differences such an alliance could be a force to be reckoned with.

Zoltán Novák spoke to Reuters about possible COVID-19 waivers for those who have already contracted the virus or have been vaccinated.

The rhetoric of the Orbán-government has led to several high profile critiques lately. These may be exaggerated, nevertheless they mirror a widespread international sentiment according to which Hungary is no longer a democracy. Ervin Csizmadia looks at the causes of this narrative.

Ádám Vermes spoke to Balkan Insight concerning lex-CEU, highlighting that while the EU court’s decision is a legal victory for the university, the political victory was reaped by the government.

Harsh words for Hungary in the EUs new Rule of Law Report, nevertheless the aim doesn’t seem to be to escalate the conflict, said Júlia Lakatos to Balkan Insight regional news portal.

Júlia Lakatos spoke about the EU recovery fund talks emphasizing that the V4 countries have learned the rules of the EU negotiating game, leveraging their collective bargaining power.

Centre for Fair Political Analysis has analyzed the crisis communication of four European leaders from the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak to the first re-openings (from the end of February to the end of May). We were curious to see how the crisis altered the political communication of the politicians studied.

The Orbán government has been clashing with Europe for the past decade. What are the strategic considerations behind these clashes and what could the West learn from them?

“The local elections in Hungary meant symbolic loss for Fidesz”, said Attila Tibor Nagy to German paper Spiegel. The election has shown that people are partially tired of Fidesz and that it is possible to replace the Orbán-system in the elections to come.

The declaration a culture war, or rather the equivalent of conservative countercultural revolution has been an important element of Hungarian politics in 2019. This shouldn’t come as a surprise though. Julia Lakatos’s analysis goes behind the scenes of the evolution of the concept.

The municipal elections of Hungary have become exactly the game changing moment that the opposition had been waiting for. But what can they learn from the outcome?

With less than a month to go before local elections in Budapest, Gergely Karácsony’s suggestion for a debate is being swept off the table by incumbent mayor István Tarlós. How could there be a debate, why should there be one, and what should it be about? CFPA’s position.

In our newest e-book we looked at the relationship between Hungary and Europe from five different perspectives; that of party programs, the press, education, political history and mentality.

The 2018 national elections have ended with a supermajority for Fidesz. This gives the party a strong legitimacy to form its third consecutive government. Both the opposition and major international media outlets have shown disbelief at the results. How could Fidesz have won again?

On March 15, one of the most important Hungarian national holidays, the Hungarian government took many people to the streets. The opposition parties could mobilize a lot less but the April 8 elections obviously will not be decided by how many people take to the streets. Ervin Csizmadia explains the “why”s.

Attila Tibor Nagy analyzed the upcoming elections for Bloomberg stating: “the main question is whether Fidesz will win with a simple or constitutional majority”.

“For Orbán, but more importantly, for a lot of Hungarian voters, Soros represents external influence on domestic issues.” Gergely Rajnai explained the current campaign in Hungary for Vice News.

We talk so much of populism that we fail to realize that there is also a second danger to democracy, namely radical pluralism. All encompassing diversity endangers the essence of liberal democracy, the balance of the levels of individuals and community. The American Founding Fathers realized this danger. Why do we fail to see it today?

There are many stereotypes and oversimplified statements about Hungary nowadays. One of these is that the authoritarian government is faced by an opposition that has a western mentality. Ervin Csizmadia gives a more nuanced explanation of this approach on Social Europe.

The struggle to find a new prime minister has overshadowed the question of what the future holds for Ferenc Gyurcsány, who unexpectedly resigned/was pressured to resign as prime minister and party chairman. Many people seem to have written off Gyurcsány in a split second, including those who in recent months did nothing other than try to prove that he was maniacally clinging onto power. Our analysis in the Budapest Times.

Two weeks ago on Saturday, public sector employees demonstrated against the government’s planned austerity measures as a result of the global financial crisis. Our thoughts about the ongoing global and local trends in German at Budapester Zeitung.

It was almost a sensation among both the Hungarian and Slovak public that the Prime Ministers of Slovakia and Hungary, Robert Fico and Ferenc Gyurcsány, were willing to hold official talks. This alone proves that the differences between Slovakia and Hungary are great. Our analysis in Budapester Zeitung in German.