\n<\/p>\n
All of Europe\u2019s eyes were on Hungary this past weekend, where voters, in a historic election, brought Prime Minister Viktor Orban\u2019s 16 years in power to an end.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Orban\u2019s close relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and his blocking of multiple EU initiatives \u2013 including an urgently needed \u20ac90 billion loan for Ukraine \u2013 had frustrated many across Europe. At the same time, he presided over a system that saw his party gradually gain control of much of the judiciary, bureaucracy, media, universities, and the economy, which sounded alarms for those concerned about democratic backsliding.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Beyond Europe, this result was also on the White House\u2019s radar, and Vice President J.D. Vance even traveled to Hungary to campaign for Orban \u2013 the European leader with the closest ties to President Trump. Orban\u2019s sweeping defeat raises new questions for European far right populist parties, and its leaders are beginning to question the value of their ties to the MAGA movement.<\/p>\n
Since our focus is on elections this episode, Greece, which is scheduled to hold national elections in 2027 is also gradually shifting into campaign mode. As parties jostle for a larger share of the electorate, the government looks to be bracing for a number of post-Easter challenges that include rising prices and the ongoing and evolving farm subsidies case.<\/p>\n
Steven Erlanger, Simon Nixon, Jennifer McCoy, and Nick Malkoutzis join Thanos Davelis as we look at Hungary\u2019s landmark election, breaking down what it means for Europe and for the war in Ukraine, the message it sends to those concerned about democratic backsliding in the West, and what takeaways there are for Greece as the country inches toward national elections next year.<\/p>\n
A little more info on our guests:<\/p>\n
Erlanger is the chief diplomatic correspondent for The New York Times covering Europe.<\/p>\n
Nixon is an independent journalist, Kathimerini columnist, and the publisher of the Wealth of Nations newsletter.<\/p>\n
McCoy is a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She is also regent\u2019s professor of political science at Georgia State University in Atlanta and a research affiliate at the Democracy Institute of Central European University, Budapest, Hungary.<\/p>\n
Malkoutzis is the co-founder and editor of Macropolis.gr.<\/p>\n