{"id":91604,"date":"2026-04-13T07:13:32","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T06:13:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/?p=91604"},"modified":"2026-04-13T08:30:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T07:30:58","slug":"orbans-fall-offers-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/2026\/04\/13\/orbans-fall-offers-hope\/","title":{"rendered":"Orb\u00e1n’s fall offers hope"},"content":{"rendered":"

Viktor Orb\u00e1n's time as Prime Minister of Hungary has come to an end. As the Guardian have reported<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

With 98.74% of the vote counted, Magyar\u2019s Tisza party was projected to have won 138 of the 199 seats in the country\u2019s parliament, giving them a super-majority capable of amending the constitution and key laws, suggesting they would be able to reverse some of the changes made by Orb\u00e1n and Fidesz, and potentially unlock EU funds.<\/p>\n

Fidesz won 55 seats, while the extreme-right Mi Haz\u00e1nk party won six.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This moment is significant. Orb\u00e1n described himself as \"illiberal\". Others, more accurately, described his administration as authoritarian, totalitarian and neo-fascist. He enjoyed considerable support from both Putin and Trump, with JD Vance flying to Hungary last week in a vain attempt to support his re-election. Both Trump and Vance heaped praise on Orb\u00e1n of late. The significance of this reversal is hard to overstate.<\/p>\n

Firstly, as is developing as a pattern, the support of a neo fascist superpower, whether it be Russia or the USA, is now proving insufficient to guarantee political victory.<\/p>\n

Secondly, the people of Hungary have demonstrated their ability to choose and to reject Orb\u00e1n's corruption and failure.<\/p>\n

Thirdly, so far, Orb\u00e1n has indicated his willingness to accept\u00a0the result, having conceded defeat.<\/p>\n

Fourthly, Hungary's veto on many actions within the European Union will now disappear, removing much of the neo fascist threat within it now that both Poland and Hungary have been pulled back from their fascist direction of travel.<\/p>\n

Fifthly, the confidence and swagger of many on the far right will be damaged by this result. The likes of the MAGA movement and Farage have built their confidence in what they have believed to be their inevitable progression toward perpetual power on the basis of the model Orb\u00e1n created. Now that he has failed, it is no longer possible for them to believe in that inevitability, and that makes it easier for voters to see through them.<\/p>\n

Sixthly, so great is the majority in the Hungarian parliament for the new government that they can overthrow some of the constitutional reforms that Orb\u00e1n put in place, offering the prospect of the return of the rule of law, free media and the end of political suppression.<\/p>\n

Seventhly, there's also a chance that the obvious corruption of the Orb\u00e1n years might be addressed. So blatant has been the devotion of funds to his own family that it must be hoped that Orb\u00e1n himself will be prosecuted. That would be an exceedingly useful precedent, not least in the message it might send to the White House.<\/p>\n

There is not much good news in the world at this moment. I can only live in hope that the new government in Hungary is indeed better than the one that it has replaced. But for now, the reversal of neofascism in that country is welcome.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Viktor Orb\u00e1n’s time as Prime Minister of Hungary has come to an end. As the Guardian have reported: With 98.74% of the vote counted, Magyar\u2019s
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