Comments on: Orban out, Magyar in

By: Rick67

Rick67 — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 17:07:18 +0000

I wonder how this will affect Rod Dreher. If I understand correctly, Orban’s government hired him, he’s been living in Budapest for the last few years. His next Substack will probably discuss this.

By: Barry Meislin

Barry Meislin — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 15:08:47 +0000

“The latter seduction has happened in the neighbors like Poland and Czechia.”

Yes, except that in the Czech Republic’s latest election, I believe that a Conservative less fond of the EU won; so there has been some clawback.

Similarly in Poland, though it is still struggling against pro-EU opponents that have been engaging in obvious shenanigans to try to deny victory to the more Conservative Party.

In both cases the EU has been doing its best to shore up those it supports. (Cf. Romania.)

File under: Democracy is great!…as long as the right guys win…

By: Sennacherib

Sennacherib — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 13:21:20 +0000

Aesop,
You’re welcome to it.

By: AesopFan

AesopFan — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 04:13:16 +0000

@ Sennacherib – Ima use that joke at my optometrist next month!

By: Sennacherib

Sennacherib — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 02:03:18 +0000

Davemay,
Since you said you were polish: https://x.com/i/status/2037628256812192117

By: Sennacherib

Sennacherib — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 01:00:23 +0000

Davemay,
Thanks, I was thinking of Churchill right after
WWII.

By: Turtler

Turtler — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 00:52:02 +0000

I am cautiously optimistic but given the state of Europe that might be too much. Orban is far from the worst of creatures in Europe, and he has done Hungary’s most important task by clamping down on illegal invasion of his country by “migrants”, and of course was never an autocrat. However he has been rather two faced in many ways, positioning himself as a champion of Western Civilization and in many ways actually being so but also taking PRC and Kremlin money and shilling “multipolarity” from regimes that have never respected the concept and giving the likes of Jobbik a fair bit of influence. Supposedly Magyar broke with him over some kind of wrongful pardon of someone for pedophilia that resulted in a number of Fidesz pols being forced to drop on their swords but which seriously cast questions about Orban himself.

https://www.rferl.org/amp/hungary-novak-resignation-orban-grip/32816814.html

One promising sign is that Magyar came from within Orban’s party as an apostate, and that this happened after attempts to defeat him from the left failed. Magyar is saying the right things for me to a large extent, but then wouldn’t he be? So I remain cautious. Orban was far from
The best possible man and I believe many English speaking right wingers like us have an overly favorable view of him, but he is also far from the worst and there are plenty of scum around.

By: Watt

Watt — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 23:54:14 +0000

Hinderaker’s take:

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2026/04/viktor-orban-departs-the-scene.php

“Moreover, Orban didn’t lose to a liberal. Péter Magyar is a former member of Orban’s party, and his views on immigration are no more liberal than Orban’s. In some ways, he is more like an American conservative than Orban has been.”

By: Davemay

Davemay — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 22:47:33 +0000

Sennacherib, I agree. 16 years is a long time in politics. Change is seductive (witness Clinton and Obama campaign slogans).
I recently had a Polish worker in my house. Since I’m also Polish heritage, we talked about current events there. I was surprised at how pro-EU he was. “The roads are great now–they never were before,” he said. When I asked him about the dissolution of national sovereignty he shrugged his shoulders.

By: om

om — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 22:41:46 +0000

Regarding the “language” rights of Hungarian-speaking Ukrainians who live near the Hungarian/Ukrainian border that was viewed with concern before the election as these “rights” are used by Roosia to justify military action in the Baltics and in Luhansk, Donbass, and Transnistria. Orban took up that tool before the election as well. He rattled that sabre in desperation it seems.