Orban’s Hungary and declining populist regimes

Repairing the damage done in 16 years under Viktor Orban will take time: the judiciary's been packed, the government's a kleptocracy, and most of the media is owned by the former populist leader’s cronies.
U.S. President Donald Trump, left, with then-Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban at the White House in November 2025. Orban’s loss is seen as a defeat for the founding father for the populist strategy, and possibly a harbinger of the future, writes Gwynne Dyer.White House photograph by Daniel Torok
Opinion
BY GWYNNE DYER
April 14, 2026

LONDON, U.K.—Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk sent a message congratulating Hungary’s newly elected prime minister, Peter Magyar, for having evicted long-serving populist leader Viktor Orban (a.k.a “The Viktator”) from power. All the usual welcoming words, but Tusk...

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