“The parliamentary elections in Hungary were won by a right-wing populist.” Whilst such headlines did not appear in the newspapers, the statement would undoubtedly have been accurate. The victory of Péter Magyar’s Respect and Freedom Party (Tisztelet és Szabadság Párt; TISZA) and Viktor Orbán’s transition into opposition after sixteen years in government is being interpreted as a fundamental rupture in European politics—a turning point, as it were, away from the strengthening of right-wing and nationalist parties across the EU. Such a perspective is, unfortunately, erroneous. The actual situation in Hungary following the victory of the TISZA opposition platform is significantly more complex than it may appear from beyond the Czech border.

Commemtary – Karel Sál

The analysis is in PDF under the link below.