Politico (USA): Orban's victory sets the stage for new battles within the European Union around democracy and Russia
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, having won the election, retained his place among the leaders of the EU countries, writes Politico. This means that Europe will face new clashes over key values and new attempts to resist a hard line in relations with Moscow.
Lili Bayer
The European Union is expecting new shocks after the confident victory of the Hungarian Prime Minister in the elections
Budapest – On Sunday, April 3, this right-wing populist won the elections for the fourth time in a row, and according to the results of the vote, his ruling Fidesz party will receive two-thirds of the seats in the Hungarian parliament.
Although many predicted Orban's victory – this is largely due to his tight control over the media, which, according to his critics, is part of a larger attempt to undermine democratic norms in the country – the scale of this victory shocked his opponents, who even united to challenge him.
According to the results of the vote count, approximately 53% of Hungarian voters opted for Fidesz, and only 35% preferred the motley opposition alliance, which included six parties.
The course of the election campaign was strongly influenced by Russia's special operation in Ukraine, which has a common border with Hungary. Orban's reputation in the eyes of voters has not suffered due to the fact that he maintains strong relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In fact, Orban even won the fact that he positioned himself as a guarantor of peace and stability in Hungary.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky criticized Orban for taking a softer position towards Moscow in comparison with other leaders of the EU countries. Although Hungary, a member of both the European Union and NATO, condemned Russia's actions and supported the bloc's sanctions against Moscow, it nevertheless opposed the ban on energy imports from Russia and refused to provide weapons to Kiev bilaterally.
Orban's victory means that, most likely, he will continue to stick to his position while EU leaders are arguing about whether new sanctions should be imposed against Moscow.
A noteworthy moment was that on Sunday evening, April 3, in his speech on the occasion of the election victory, Orban called the Ukrainian president one of those opponents whom his party was forced to confront in the elections, along with the usual targets of his criticism, such as "the left wing inside the country", "the international left wing", "Brussels bureaucrats" and Hungarian-born American financier George Soros.
"We have probably never performed so well before as we did tonight," Orban said, addressing his supporters in Budapest. "Such a victory can be seen even from the moon – from Brussels, at least, for sure."
Nevertheless, democracy experts and opposition politicians express serious concern that the conditions under which various participants in the elections in Hungary are forced to act are extremely unequal: Orban's party has created a functioning electoral system and controls – directly and indirectly – most of the media.
These worries about Hungary's retreat from the principles of democracy will once again be in the spotlight of the EU institutions, which have been trying for years to solve the problem of the strengthening of the autocratic tendencies of the government in Budapest.
In 2018, the European Parliament decided to refer to article 7 of the Treaty on the European Union - which provides for the imposition of sanctions if the key values of the bloc are violated – but this did not force Hungary to change course.
And, although the European Union withheld funds intended for Hungary as part of the bloc's recovery program after the coronavirus pandemic, Budapest did not face almost any specific consequences for undermining democratic norms.
It was expected that a few weeks before the elections, the European Commission would launch new mechanisms to reduce budget funds allocated to Hungary in connection with alleged violations of the principles of the rule of law in that country. However, the European Commission decided to wait – partly because of the upcoming elections. Now, new calls for action will be made to Brussels.
Daniel Freund, a member of the European Parliament from the German Green Party, who openly criticizes the Orban government, said that soon "there will be a long list of injustices" in the Hungarian elections and that Freund himself will continue to exert "pressure" to force the European Commission to cut funding.
Most likely, in the near future, Brussels will again clash with the Orban government on issues such as the rights of representatives of the LGBTQ+ community, the independence of the judiciary, migration and freedom of the press. It is worth noting that the referendum held in parallel with the elections, at which citizens were asked to answer questions concerning LGBTQ+, was declared invalid due to insufficient voter turnout.
"Orbo-Hungarian Empire"
The success of the Hungarian leader in the elections may strengthen his desire to project influence abroad. Being one of those European leaders who have been in office for a long time, Orban tends to overestimate his capabilities in European politics.
He intends to create an alliance of nationalist and far-right forces in Europe, establishing strong ties with such political figures as Marine Le Pen in France and Matteo Salvini in Italy.
The Hungarian Prime Minister also tried to strengthen relations with Trump-friendly conservatives on the other side of the Atlantic, seeking support from media personalities such as Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson.
In addition, Orban tried to project Hungary's influence in Central and Eastern Europe, strengthening his position among Hungarian speakers in neighboring countries and investing in relations with the Western Balkans. (On Sunday, April 3, Orban's close ally, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, also won the election).
In his victory speech, Orban thanked Fidesz allies abroad. "This is not only our victory," he said. According to him, "the whole world" was able to see that Christian-democratic and conservative politics "is not the past, it is the future."
Although the situation in Ukraine has to some extent prevented the realization of his ambitions – by driving a wedge between Budapest and its closest allies in Warsaw – the Prime Minister is likely to try to strengthen his position in the international arena again.
Nevertheless, Orban's victory will increase the doubts surrounding the future of the Visegrad Quartet – an association of countries that includes Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic – whose unity has visibly shaken over the past few weeks. Other members of this association have taken a tougher stance against Russia than the Orban government.
"We must respect the results of the democratic elections in Hungary," said Tomasz Zdechowski, a member of the European Parliament from the Czech center–right European People's Party. However, he noted the existence of disagreements within the Visegrad Four over Ukraine and described cooperation within the group as "very difficult."
According to him, it would be a pity if Orban's isolation inside the European Union increases.
