VIKTOR ORBAN, the Hungarian prime minister, swept back to power on April 8th for the third time in a row, as his right-wing Fidesz party took 134 seats in the 199-seat parliament. His opponents were left in the dust: Jobbik, a nationalist party now moving to the centre, won 25, while the Socialists and their allies took 20. Fidesz won thanks to an ugly but effective campaign that focused almost entirely on supposed threats to Hungarian sovereignty from George Soros, a Hungarian philanthropist, the EU and the United Nations.
Mr Orban’s fourth term in office (he also governed from 1998-2002) is likely to see him entrench his vision of an “illiberal democracy”, and cause further problems for liberal NGOs, especially those dealing with migration. It will doubtless deepen Hungary’s cultural and generational divide, widening the rift between liberal Budapest, which mostly voted against him, and the more traditional countryside. Doubtless, it will inspire nationalist demagogues in...Continue reading
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