Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban delivers a confident speech after being reelected as the president of the party Fidesz in Budapest, Hungary, on Nov. 12, 2017. Szilard Voros/Press Association. All rights reserved.Since the evening of February 25, Hungary has lived in a state of trance, collecting the scattered shards of the political room through the looking glass that, until that Sunday night, seemed to be the concrete solid reality of Orbania.
The shock came from a small-scale event, the defeat of the country’s ruling party, Fidesz, in an inconsequential interim mayorial race in a small rural town called Hódmezővásárhely. Still, all actors in Hungary see the event as a rule changer and a major defeat for Orbán (as correctly explained in the world press, see here or here). It is not probable that a similar miracle will follow in the elections in April, which are way too close for parties to adapt their strategy to the new circumstances. Still, Orbán’s shock loss may well represent the beginning of the end.
