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Shkruar nga Edwina Otira
Viktor Orban has been a problematic factor for the EU and NATO for years. Now Peter Magyar can change this situation…
Hungarians will go to the polls on April 12 for the most important elections in recent years, as Prime Minister Viktor Orban's 16-year term faces its biggest challenge yet.
Recent polls suggest that Europe's longest-serving leader and a staunch illiberal figure could suffer defeat to the opposition Tisza Party of Peter Magyar.
Orban, 62, has spent decades consolidating power by installing loyalists in state institutions and the media landscape. That dominance has provided him with a powerful platform to spread his government's agenda, creating a kind of national echo chamber where he has stoked fears of immigrants.
However, he has also built a solid base of support and achieved some economic successes in the early years of his rule. In this weekly Bloomberg Originals documentary, we examine how Orbán built one of the most stable political machines in Europe and why it is now in jeopardy.
The race is being closely watched in Brussels, where European Union leaders see an opposition victory as a possible sign of a new era in relations with an often-unfriendly member state. The situation is also being watched by Orbán’s allies in Washington, Moscow and Beijing. Orbán has established a practice of blocking EU decision-making, slowed NATO expansion in the face of Russian aggression and delayed billions of dollars in financial aid to Ukraine.
However, it is domestic issues that have put Orban on the defensive. A stagnant economy, declining public services and several corruption scandals have fueled the rise of his strong opponent. Magyar, 45, once part of Orban’s ruling elite, is now running a grassroots campaign promising to fight corruption, improve public services and restore Hungary’s relationship with the European Union.
The outcome of the April 12 election will determine whether Magyar’s strategy has worked. However, as the analysis shows, even if he wins, Orban’s deep-rooted allies will remain a challenge for him. /Adapted from Bloomberg /
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