Hungary
Tag
Two Visions of the Citizen
Tisza and Fidesz. Two distinct images of the human being, two anthropological premises, two idealised citizens. The differences do not merely point to divergent programme languages; they outline different models of community and, through them, presuppose fundamentally different logics of exercising power.
What will Péter Magyar do?
The victory of Péter Magyar
Landslide for Tisza
Operational Pragmatism
You Reap What You Sow
Both major parties, Fidesz and Tisza, made numerous promises to their voters during the election campaign. How does this relate to international trends? Bulcsú Zsiga’s analysis.
Vision and Passion in Hungarian Politics – Conference Summary
What do voters look for in a political leader today? Can it be different in various democratic countries? How is the political landscape in Hungary before the approaching parliamentary election? Year-end CFPA conference summary.
Small States, Great Impact?
Can a smaller country increase its geopolitical impact? Julia Lakatos’s analysis looks at international examples, pointing out the changes in the Hungarian approach to foreign policy.
Grand Strategies
Is Dominance Democratic?
Fidesz dominance has been seen as a sign of democratic backsliding or authorianism. Is it normal to be in power for over a decade in a democracy? We look at historical patterns to find out.
Campaign strategy in Hungary
Gergely Rajnai analyzed the campaign strategy of Viktor Orbán for the Dutch public broadcasting channel NOS.
The Return of the Forgotten Political Centre
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.
Hungary’s Uncertain Future
Will Hungary break free of its current political trajectory, or will history repeat itself? Róbert Kiss explores overlooked aspects of the opposition narrative.
Hungary Heading Towards Two-party Competition?
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.
Stability, Strength, Traditions
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.
Path Dependency in Education
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.
The impact of Trump’s victory on Hungary
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.
EP elections
Julia Lakatos spoke about the causes of the high voter turnout at the EP and municipal elections in Telex‘s live election coverage.
Interpreting Orbán
Gergely Rajnai analyzed Viktor Orbán’s foreign policy approach on Al Jazeera’s Newshour.
Loyalty, populism and football
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 transformation of the Hungarian opposition?
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.
Between two worlds
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.
What happened in Hungary?
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.
War and elections
Gergely Rajnai spoke to ARD about the effects of the Ukraine conflict on Hungarian elections.
Fidesz dominance
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.
An electoral challenge?
Julia Lakatos spoke to Radio Free Europe about the reasons why the opposition parties rallied behind a conservative major to run against Viktor Orbán.
How to carry out a primary election?
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.
Realignment on the right
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.