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After weeks of close polls and much nervousness within the government itself, the best-case scenario for Prime Minister Orbán and his allies occurred: The Fidesz political party won in the Hungarian elections and maintained its two-thirds lead in Parliament with a 20 percent point victory over the opposition coalition. The opposition candidate, before a small group of supporters, accepted defeat but questioned the electoral system and government propaganda.
It is probably time for the European Union to respect the decision of the Hungarian citizens. There may be problems in the electoral system and other inconveniences, but none of that covers the reality; the will of the voters is clear. They want to go ahead with this post-liberal conservative model that does not say yes to everything Brussels orders and is willing to defend national integrity and traditional family.
The big question for Orbán now will be how to deal with his relations with Russia. Certainly, taking big steps in this regard before the election was shooting himself in the foot, but due to geopolitical instability and sanctions on Russia, sooner rather than later Hungary will have to look for other energy alternatives to maintain the much-loved low utility prices at home. In turn, Orbán’s stance on sanctions against Russia has brought the Visegrád Group, consisting of Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, to its lowest point in years.
Orbán has a lot of work ahead to rebuild diplomatic relations, but perhaps it is time for Brussels to accept that Hungary is a genuinely conservative country that wants to be part of the Europe of nations and not the Europe of bureaucrats.
This article originally appeared in El American’s newsletter on April 4, 2022. Sign up for free here.
Edgar is political scientist and philosopher. He defends the Catholic intellectual tradition. Edgar writes about religion, ideology, culture, US politics, abortion, and the Supreme Court. Twitter: @edgarjbb_ // Edgar es politólogo y filósofo. Defiende la tradición intelectual católica. Edgar escribe sobre religión, ideología, cultura, política doméstica, aborto y la Corte Suprema. Twitter: @edgarjbb_