In the recent elections in April, Hungary achieved a decisive landslide victory over Viktor Orbán’s 16-year oppressive and increasingly authoritarian regime—one that still remained a democracy, but became a deeply distorted and manipulated one. As a result, Hungary had turned into a troubling case within the European Union, creating a growing sense of dissonance and even shame among many Hungarians aligned with modern, postmodern, and integral values—the very foundations of European culture.
How did this positive shift happen? After 16 years of a widely shared sense that the situation was fundamentally tragic—that nothing would change, that Orbán was unbeatable, and that development itself was reversing—the system transformed with surprising speed and unexpected ease. What were the key conditions that made such a rapid turnaround possible, culminating in a two-thirds parliamentary victory for a new political force that shook the global autocratic trend and signaled a course correction in the direction of development—realigning it with modern, postmodern, and integral (orange–green–teal) values?
This outcome generated a profound positive shock not only in Hungary, but across the European Union and beyond, as a significant pillar of the broader global autocratic trend—associated with figures such as Putin and Orbán—was suddenly removed.