Voters in Hungary set to decide whether Viktor Orbán remains in power after 16 years.

Parliamentary elections are currently being held in Hungary today 12 April 2026. This is the 10th parliamentary election since the resumption of free elections in 1990. And the 4th since Victor Orbán resumed office in 2010.

Viktor Mihály Orbán (born 31 May 1963) is a Hungarian lawyer and politician who has been the 56th prime minister of Hungary since 2010, previously holding the office from 1998 to 2002. He has also led the Fidesz political party since 2003, and previously from 1993 to 2000. He was re-elected as prime minister in 2014, 2018, and 2022. On 29 November 2020, he became the country’s longest-serving prime minister.

Why this matters? Because Viktor Orban offers a template for how a democratically elected leader can undermine democracy and the rule of law.

What’s at stake?

In 2014, Viktor Orbán gave an oft-cited speech¹ where he proclaimed Hungary an illiberal democracy, stating that “a democracy does not necessarily have to be liberal” and that “the new state we are constructing in Hungary is an illiberal state, a non-liberal state.”

Honorable Ladies and Gentlemen, a trending topic in thinking is understanding systems that are not Western, not liberal, not liberal democracies, maybe not even democracies, and yet making nations successful.

We needed to state that a democracy is not necessarily liberal. Just because something is not liberal, it still can be a democracy.

we have to abandon liberal methods and principles of organizing a society, as well as the liberal way to look at the world.

The fundamental view of the liberal way of organizing a society holds that we are free to do anything that does not violate another person’s freedom.

He describes the many things a liberal democracy is unable to achieve, to conclude:

The new state that we are building is an illiberal state, a non-liberal state. It does not deny foundational values of liberalism, as freedom, etc.. But it does not make this ideology a central element of state organization, but applies a specific, national, particular approach in its stead.

Scholars have generally criticized the claim that illiberal democracies are democracies, arguing that liberal principles and democracy cannot be separated and that without freedom of the press and speech, elections cannot truly be free and fair. This is Wikipedia’s definition:

An illiberal democracy is a governing system that “hides its nondemocratic practices behind formally democratic institutions and procedures”. While there is no universal consensus on its precise definition, the term broadly describes governments that present themselves as liberal democracies while subtly suppressing opposing views. It has been described by researchers as a 21st-century form of fascism, maintaining electoral democracy while employing state power for largely nationalistic, anti-minority, and anti-freedom purposes, often under the leadership of dominant figures and their close associates.

Hungary has been a member state of the European Union, since joined on May 1, 2004. In 2022 Orbán openly demanded to abolish the EU Parliament, Viktor Orbán demands.

US and Russia are backing Viktor Orbán in Hungary election. President Trump is a major supporter of Viktor Orban and sent President Vice President JD Vance to Budapest earlier this week. Viktor Orban and his government are very close ally to the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Place your bets

Right at the very moment of publishing this post, Polymarket is anticipating a clear victory of Peter Magyar (85%).

We will know the results within a few hours… or in the next few days if complications arise.

My bet is that the outcome of the elections in Hungary will be significant for the course of present geopolitical events.

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(1) Government. ‘Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Speech at the 25th Bálványos Summer Free University and Student Camp’. Accessed 12 April 2026. https://2015-2019.kormany.hu/en/the-prime-minister/the-prime-minister-s-speeches/prime-minister-viktor-orban-s-speech-at-the-25th-balvanyos-summer-free-university-and-student-camp.

Featured Image: Viktor Orbán By PeachyProtist