Free Republic

Viktor Orban, the valiant populist, the restorer of the Christian faith in Hungary, the welcome thorn in the side of the EU Establishment, and the strong ally of President Trump since his first bid for office, has lost his own re-election bid. I had a feeling it would come to this. Sixteen years of uninterrupted administration as a strong force for conservative, right-wing nationalist populism have come to an end, at least under Orban’s leadership. Sometimes, voters have a strange fatigue when it comes to governments. Fourteen years of a “Conservative” UK government ushered in the Labour Party in 2024....

Incoming Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar will reverse Viktor Orbán’s decision to leave the International Criminal Court (ICC) and enforce an ICC arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. ...... “I… made it clear to the Israeli prime minister that we will not back down, because my colleagues have examined it and we can still stop [Hungary’s withdrawal from the ICC]… If someone is a member of the International Criminal Court and a person who is wanted enters the territory of our country, he or she must be detained.” – Péter Magyar

While the victors celebrate, the European Union moves to tighten its grip on Péter Magyar’s incoming government. Without Washington’s support, Budapest will have a hard time avoiding being overwhelmed by Brussels’s “friendly embrace.” The Red Pill of RealityHungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz party were unexpectedly defeated in the April 12 parliamentary elections. Supporters of Péter Magyar’s Tisza party are celebrating their victory, having received nods of approval and handshakes from Brussels and many other European capitals. Eurocrats are rushing to declare the end of the “Orbán era.” However, Tisza did not win because its platform was more...

U.S. Conservatives were down in the dumps about Viktor Orbán's loss in the parliamentary election in Hungary. As Beege wrote last night, perhaps that sentiment was a bit premature, based more on the European Union's desire to replace Orbán than any real reason to worry about his successor, Péter Magyar. Magyar, after all, was not some socialist opponent of Orbán, but until recently his right-hand man. He defected from Orbán over what appear to be legitimate concerns about massive corruption in the Orbán regime, rather than over policy differences with the political platform of Orbán's party, Fidesz. The European Union...

Hungarian Prime Minister-elect Péter Magyar held his first international press conference after the 12 April election, which resulted in a supermajority victory for his Tisza Party. During the three-hour-long briefing, Magyar outlined key policies of the future government, including several aspects of foreign policy. ‘Hungary’s history is written by the Hungarian people, not in Moscow, not in Brussels, and not in Washington,’ he stressed, asking other countries to regard Hungary as a ‘free, independent and sovereign European country’ that is a member of the European Union and NATO. Magyar added that, under a Tisza government, Hungary will not ‘interfere in...

Warsaw officials are gloating that so-called “bandits, criminals, and thieves” will soon be tried in Poland. Donald Tusk on X. Péter Magyar’s incoming Tisza government is set to extradite two senior figures from Poland’s former conservative Law and Justice (PiS) administration who sought refuge in Hungary from leftist PM Donald Tusk’s pursuit of his rivals. It is no wonder that Tusk, a fellow member of the centrist-liberal European People’s Party, is so happy with Magyar’s victory. Orbán’s Defeat Sparks Gloating Across Europe’s EstablishmentJubilant reactions from EU figures reveal how pivotal Hungary had become in opposing further centralisation—but Patriots for Europe...

Barbara Boyd argues Tom Friedman admitted some prefer Iran not be defeated if it politically benefits Trump or Netanyahu, then frames recent events as exposing “theater” about defending democracy. She claims the EU executed a regime-change operation against Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, citing NGO pressure, frozen funds, threats to strip voting power, and a push to end EU member-state vetoes, amid protests over a fuel crisis tied to the Iran war. Boyd highlights JD Vance’s remarks in Hungary about radicals, sovereignty, and foreign election pressure. She says Tulsi Gabbard declassified documents showing Trump’s first impeachment was a hoax driven by whistleblower...

BRUSSELS — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen waited less than a day after Hungary voted Viktor Orbán out of office to call for the EU to get more power over national governments to force through foreign policy decisions. Governments should be able to push through EU policies ― on issues that could include sanctions on Russia and funds for Ukraine ― by majority rather than allowing individual nations to wield a veto, she told reporters in Brussels. Under Orbán, Hungary’s prime minister for 16 years, Hungary has often blocked foreign policy decisions. “Moving to qualified majority voting in...

Hungarian Member of European Parliament Péter Magyar has been hailed by leading globalists on both sides of the Atlantic for his convincing victory over Prime Minister Viktor Orbán during Sunday’s parliamentary elections; however, it remains unclear how the supposed centre-right politician will govern in Budapest. Just two years after splitting from Orbán’s Fidesz party, Péter Magyar, 45, whose Tisza (Respect and Freedom) Party rocketed from relative obscurity to victory on Sunday, is set to be elevated from a lowly MEP role to the highest government office in Hungary after securing enough votes for a super majority in the Országgyűlés parliament....

Reacting to Viktor Orban’s defeat, Scarborough hailed it as a “great day for Western democracy” and a “very bad day” for those who have “done their best to try to destroy Western democracy.” He then pivoted to a broader swipe at critics of his preferred definition of “liberal democracy.” “Liberal: a traditionally small-government term,” Scarborough insisted—before adding that “a lot of really stupid people don’t understand that, because they don’t read history. I guess they just scrawl in crayon books.” Liberal democracy = small government, Joe? If only! The line fits a long-running pattern. Over the years, Scarborough has repeatedly...

Péter Magyar, the Hungarian politician most likely to defeat Viktor Orbán, promises “regime change” but signals continuity on several core policies. The European Union should manage expectations and prepare for a more complex relationship than a simple post-Orbán reset. With less than two months to go before Hungary’s 12 April elections, the Tisza party led by Péter Magyar is polling ahead of Orban’s Fidesz. For the first time since 2010, a change of government appears genuinely possible. The stakes are high. A fifth consecutive term for Orbán would further entrench what the European Parliament has described as a “hybrid regime...