It didn’t take long after the polls closed in Hungary last Sunday for reality to set in. Hungarian voters had dealt a crushing blow to far-right Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the self-described “illiberal democrat,” and his Fidesz Party, bringing an end to their 16 years of consecutive rule. The overwhelming victory by Peter Magyar’s Tisza party shocked not only Orban’s supporters at home, but also many of his admirers around the world, including U.S. President Donald Trump, who had dispatched Vice President JD Vance to campaign with Orban in Budapest just days before the election.
Orban had become the poster child for the rising global tide of right-wing nationalist populism, so some have interpreted his downfall to mean the trend has peaked. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz captured this sentiment when he said the election results had sent “a clear signal against right-wing populism worldwide” that showed “the pendulum is swinging back.”
But is it? That depends partly on whether opponents of far-right figures in other countries can glean the right takeaways.