Hungary is experiencing a political transformation on a scale that many people previously believed impossible, according to a new analysis published by the Financial Times.
The British business daily argues that the changes unfolding since the April election extend well beyond a routine change of government, describing them as a profound political and institutional shift.
According to the newspaper, the developments are also a major relief for the European Union, which has struggled to prevent democratic backsliding and the erosion of the rule of law within some member states.
The Financial Times adds that the changes in Hungary also represent a setback for nationalist conservative movements around the world that had viewed Viktor Orbán’s long period in office as a source of inspiration.
Government aims to rebuild Hungary’s international position
Speaking to the Financial Times, Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Anita Orbán said she hopes Hungary can become a leader in the renewal of Western democracy.
She said the government intends to return to a foreign policy that prioritises Hungary’s national interests while remaining “within the European family” and gradually reducing the country’s dependence on foreign powers.
According to the newspaper, one of Prime Minister Péter Magyar’s key priorities is dismantling what it describes as “the corruption that became intrinsic to the Orbán regime.”
Corruption allegations highlighted
The Financial Times cites János István Tóth, head of the Budapest-based Corruption Research Centre, who estimates that EU-funded contracts and non-competitive public procurement awarded to 13 individuals linked to Viktor Orbán totalled EUR 19.3 billion between 2011 and 2023.
Based on estimates that 20–40% of the value of those contracts may have been siphoned off, the research suggests that EU taxpayers may have indirectly financed “Orbán’s kleptocracy” with EUR 3.2–5.5 billion, the newspaper reports.
The analysis also argues that public frustration over corruption, declining living standards and deteriorating public services contributed significantly to Péter Magyar’s landslide election victory.
“Even gravity feels lighter”
Anita Orbán told the newspaper that the most dramatic changes are taking place within Hungarian society itself, reflected in people’s expectations and renewed optimism. She noted that Hungary has traditionally been a pessimistic country but said that, since the 12 April election,
“people keep saying that even gravity feels lighter.”
Debate over accountability
According to the Financial Times, many Hungarians are calling for Viktor Orbán and former senior officials to be held accountable over alleged abuses of office. A former senior Fidesz official, speaking anonymously, told the newspaper that “society wants blood”, while warning that aggressively targeting the former prime minister could allow him to present himself as a martyr rather than retreat from public life.
What’s next? Public safety crisis? Budapest leaders call for immediate intervention from government
Historian calls the changes a “constitutional revolution”
Historian Krisztián Ungváry described the current developments as unprecedented in modern Hungarian history. Speaking to the Financial Times, he said he could not recall another transformation of such fundamental significance taking place without external intervention.
Ungváry characterised the process as a constitutional revolution, arguing that the country is taking steps to restore the rule of law that would previously have seemed unimaginable. “The goal is the complete dismantling of the current state structure. I would call it both a revolution and a regime change,” he said.
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Wow, an unabashedly globalist mouthpiece heaps praise on a globalist patsy who is making enormous strides toward having Hungary dancing to the globalist-socialist tune.
Imagine…
How novel.
Yawn.
Ha! Ha! Steiner can you ever post something without using the word “globalist”. You are a joke.
Lech Walesa in a recent interview said the biggest failure of the Tisza government is that no one has been put in jail yet from the former government.
Orbán and Fidesz had to go, but this is just a Brussel’s controlled liberal left colour revolution. We need real nationalist not EU puppets like Magyar and his Tisza gang.