The event will be livestreamed here and on YouTube.

Since its ascent to government in 2010, the Hungarian ruling party Fidesz has eroded constitutional checks and balances, gained control of most of the media, strengthened ties to Moscow and Beijing, attempted to undermine EU consensus on key foreign policy questions, encouraged nepotism, and rhetorically attacked the EU and the West. Hungary, who played a significant role in the rapprochement between East and West in the late 1980s, has become a symbol of division within the EU.

These factors united the Hungarian opposition behind the conservative and anticorruption candidate Péter Márki-Zay, who challenged Viktor Orbán in the parliamentary elections. Ultimately, Fidesz claimed another supermajority once votes were all counted.

The election campaign itself was overshadowed by the violent Russian onslaught on Ukraine and an unprecedented wave of refugees fleeing the conflict, with hundreds of thousands having already entered Hungary.

This event will see us analyse the outcome of the Hungarian elections. Is Hungary headed towards reform and commitment to the EU, or the stability of the status quo? What will be the new government’s agenda and its influence in the region and wider EU? What will the war in Ukraine’s impact be on the future of the CEE region?