The Responsibility of Renewal
It appears that Viktor Orbán may soon withdraw from the front line of politics. It is therefore time for us, too, to reflect on what renewal means for us.
No Reconciliation Without Accountability in Hungary
There can be no meaningful reconciliation in Hungary while Viktor Orbán remains untouched by legal and political accountability.
Whoever Dares to Threaten Viktor Orban Is Picking a Fight with Peter Magyar
This is the impression I drew from Peter Magyar’s speeches delivered in Szarvas and Bekescsaba.
It is important, however, to clarify a fundamental misunderstanding. Zelensky’s controversial statement in question was not directed at Hungarian society as a whole, as Peter Magyar interpreted it, but referred exclusively to Viktor Orban. If the political practice of presenting criticism directed at one individual as an attack on the entire nation sounds familiar, that is hardly accidental. This communication method has long been present in Hungarian political discourse, particularly when the prime minister or the government faces criticism.
Roles and Power: Hungary’s Year-End Political Moment
In just a few weeks, perhaps one of the most exhausting, symbolically understood Zimbardo experiments in the history of Hungarian society will come to an end. Observing from abroad, from the United Kingdom, it increasingly feels as if the political processes of recent years have reshaped not only institutions but also roles. The question today is no longer merely who will govern, but also who will remain “prisoners” and who will become the guards of the next cycle in a system where political identity is slowly overriding the personal one.
Orbán’s New Opponent: Mr. V-Power
István Kapitány, one of Shell’s global executive vice presidents, has stormed into Hungarian politics with enormous energy, right at the peak of the campaign season. He has put a 37-year multinational career and a carefully built international reputation on the table for what he sees as a higher calling: securing victory for the Tisza Party. And it seems even the party’s leader has begun to realise that a long-running one-man show may no longer be enough.
