The people of Hungary just showed what’s possible. The question for us is: are we paying attention?
Note to my future self.
Great hope in Hungary this week.
Strongman Viktor Orbán — 16 years in power, the global patron saint of illiberalism — lost decisively in elections on Sunday and conceded. Seventy seven percent of voters turned out and gave opponent Péter Magyar a two-thirds majority.
The cavalry Trump and Putin sent in to shore up support didn’t help.
Trump endorsed him. Putin propped him up. JD Vance flew to Budapest to stump for him — falsely calling Ukraine the greater threat to Europe than Russia’s aggression, and citing “moral cooperation” and “Christian civilization.” Putin promised the oil would continue to flow. Netanyahu sent a video calling Orbán the man who means “safety, security, stability.”
The Hungarians saw through it.
The scale of this win cannot be overemphasized: Orban had arranged the levers of power to make it almost impossible for Magyar to campaign.
Orbán was proof of concept for modern strongman leaders. Hollow out a democracy from the inside by packing the courts, coopt the media, tilt the elections — and get away with it. Others globally followed this playbook. It worked for 16 years, until it didn’t.
For Europe, this is enormous. Hungary had been Putin’s man inside NATO: blocking Ukraine aid, watering down sanctions. For the EU, a years-long disruptor is gone.
But authoritarians don’t retreat after a loss. Even as he conceded, Orbán said “We are not giving up. Never, never, never.”
Trump is watching. He lost his bet in Budapest. Will he decide that power is too important to entrust to elections?
The people of Hungary just showed what’s possible. The question for us is: are we paying attention?
Notes To My Future Self 