‘In 2026, Europe's future will be decided in Hungary,’ Liam Hoare writes in Haaretz.

‘In April, Hungarians will go to the polls to elect a new government, and for the first time since his return to power in 2010, Hungary's right-wing, populist and kleptocratic prime minister Viktor Orbán has a serious challenger in the guise of his one-time ally, Péter Magyar.’

Hoare adds: ‘In April 2024, Magyar took over the Tisza (Respect and Freedom) Party, running it as a right-of-center, pro-European party focused on dismantling Orbán's mafia state.’

And: ‘If an election were held today, polling averages indicate Magyar would receive 49 percent of the vote to Orbán's 36.’

According to Hoare, the US will probably ‘seek to interfere in the election outcome.’

Orbán has other abilities to interfere with the democratic process, but still, perhaps Orbán’s ‘mafia state’ will be dismantled by elections.

Hope in 2026.

(a sf 2018)