I don't know much about him, only that he was in the same party. I have heard that he is pro-EU and anti-Russia though, is that true?

Yes, he basically have the same views, except on Russia. One advantage though is that Orban put his people at the head of Hungary corporations, so maybe that will end and the corruption will be kept at "normal" levels.

> A country where no one is stigmatized for loving someone differently than the majority.

-- Peter Magyar victory speech, April 12, 2026

That's directly in opposition to Orban's views and homophobic laws.

Shit, i didn't realize, his name is really Magyar? I thought it was a surname. What a name for Hungary's president

On a similar note, François Hollande had the right first name but the wrong last name!

Pro-EU: probably. Anti-Russia: also probably.

For both: I prefer to see it all rather than to assume it will be fine. Oh, and we still have Fico to deal with. But at least Hungarians have chosen against Orban that in itself gives some hope. Those leaked phone calls that were made public in the last weeks were very damning, I always assumed that such stuff was going on but to have hard proof is on another level.

I wonder what they're going to do with the participants. And what Orban's plans are now that he's in the opposition. I would not count him out just yet, he's got Putin's backing and you can bet they'll work overtime to try to destabilize Magyar's government. The rot goes pretty deep and it will take a lot of work to undo all that damage.

Orban is only 63; it's up to him what he will do but there is a certain type of people that could live happily on their own island with all the money they have stolen but they prefer to do evil to their last day. See for example Babis, delegating the ownership of his huge company to a trust fund so he can be a prime minister again at 70. Or indeed our great leader Fico who is in politics like Orban since '89, was prime minister around 15 years of the last 20, probably stolen billions for himself, was shot, nearly killed, and doesn't look like he wants to give up his power anytime soon.. and he's still only 62.

With Orban much reduced in power Fico's days are numbered.

But Orban will hang around, if only to do more of Putin's bidding, it's up to Magyar & the new government now to deal with Orban and his spies in a way that they won't be able to do a come-back.

Not really, Fico has survived a lot during his 4 decades in politics and was always able to adapt (to our detriment). His political survival does not depend on Orban, even though they were close the last couple of years.

That's absolutely true. But in a European context he's already vowed that he will now take up Orban's mantel in blockading EU assistance to Ukraine and other tricks. That means he will no longer be able to hide his involvement and I'm pretty sure that the same kind of conversations between Lavrov and Hungarian politicians can be found about Fico & company. They are clearly not acting in Slovakia's long term interests and that's something that can be much more openly discussed. Keeping in mind that Slovakia is only 1/3rd of so of the size economy as Hungary makes it less of a problem to begin with.

Strength to you, it must be super hard to be living under politicians that are ripping off your country in such a blatant manner on behalf of what is nominally now an enemy nation (based on their own statements), especially given what your country had to endure in the years before the fall of the USSR.

I think generally western EU has no idea how unbelievably corrupt these regimes (Fico, Orbana, Babis) are... they are not stealing on behalf of Putin, they are stealing for themselves, and they are oriented towards Russia because they dream of having Putin's unchecked power.

Luckily I don't think Fico will help Putin that much because nobody trusts him anymore, his foreign minister is very weak and as you mention Slovakia is no economical heavyweight. The hardest thing for us is to see the brainwashed masses still voting for Fico or worse still actual nazis.

If nothing goes catastrophically wrong (again), Orban won't be allowed to return as a prime minister. One of the first legislation the new government aims to pass is to maximize the number of terms to two (8 years in power) which Orban already surpassed. Of course, they could always pull a Putin and put him in a presidential chair and shift power from the parliament/prime minister, so let's hope Fidesz never gets that level of support ever again.

That's great news.

"Russians go home" was one of the main chants at opposition rallies. In 2026 like in 1989.

And in 1956 of course.

From your perspective as afaik nowadays a Californian progressive: Don't let perfect be the enemy of good.

Yes, that's true. But there is enough about Magyar that I don't understand that I'm cautiously optimistic. Though it would be hard to imagine worse than Orban...

JD Vance strikes again. I wonder how long it will take US politicians and assorted billionaires to realize that their 'endorsements' will backfire.

"...will take US politicians and assorted billionaires to realize that their 'endorsements' will backfire..." They may have to switch off their AI and start using their own brain - should they still have one, that is.

Shhhh. Don't correct your enemy while they are busy making mistakes. Just smile and wave.

They all start from the same root whether Trump (once a democrat), BJP (part of congress, oldest political party in India)