Free Republic

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...