The Europeans

NEW EPISODE

Europe’s been buzzing with elections lately - but this week, we’re focusing on arguably the most monumental election of 2026: On 12 April, Hungarians could choose to end Viktor Orbán’s 16-year reign.

Is the EU's most illiberal leader on his way out?

Listen here: https://www.europeanspodcast.com/all-episodes/the-end-of-orban

The end of Orbán? — The Europeans

It has been 16 years since Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party assumed power in Hungary – and it might have begun to feel like things could never change. But with a parliamentary election just around the corner, there’s now a glimmer – a hint! a twinkle! – of hope that Europe’s most illiberal government cou

The Europeans
Mar 26 at 8:16amWeb
Show threadMārtiņš Bruņenieks5d ago
@europeanspodcast is Orban more illiberal than Lukashenko? Anyway, off to listen to the episode.
Show threadGabriel Pettier4d ago
@papuass @europeanspodcast I assume they meant the EU rather than continental europe, Belaruss is not part of the former. Dunno how Orbán would behave if Hungary was outside of the EU, but Lukashenko sure is more of a dictator than him currently.
Show threadVojtěch Horký4d ago
@tshirtman @papuass @europeanspodcast Yeah, ‘European’ is to the EU what ‘American’ is to the US. Need to keep up the confusion.
Show threadThe Europeans4d ago
@VojtechHorky @tshirtman @papuass Apologies! You're all exactly right. I should have written: "Is the EU's most illiberal leader on his way out". I'm going to change it in the show notes, in the post and on the website.
Show threadMārtiņš Bruņenieks4d ago
@europeanspodcast @VojtechHorky @tshirtman thank you, this never meant to be a highly contested competition
Show threadAethel4d ago
@europeanspodcast completely unrelated pet peeve, but from a podcast called the europeans i'd expect a correct date format
Show threadThe Europeans4d ago
@Aethel apologies for the oversight - edited the post!
Show threadAethel4d ago
@europeanspodcast i...did not expect that. Thank you and apologies if i seemed rude. Damn...
Show threadMārtiņš Bruņenieks17h ago
@Aethel @europeanspodcast I had the same feeling - did I sound rude / reply guy / "actually".
Show threadnzwrx4d ago
@europeanspodcast
Thank you, Katy, for saying "tenterhooks" rather than "tenderhooks"... 😁
Show threadStian1m ago

Thanks for this episode! I really appreciate the discussion of the Tisza party - I have found it incredibly difficult to know how optimistic or not to feel about them, and it's great to hear the honest reflections of people who know much more than me about the subject.

In either case Orbán losing power would of course give cause for celebration in its own right. :)
@europeanspodcast