This is all very much out of Orbán’s election playbook, according to Michael Ignatieff, a former Canadian politician. He has closely observed Hungarian politics as a professor of history at the Central European University, which was based in Budapest, until it was forced out by Orbán, and is now based in Vienna.
“There is always a risk of falling into a trap with Orbán. He is fighting for his political life,” Ignatieff told POLITICO. But they do not blame EU leaders for the position they took last week. “I have no chance to second-guess the Commission or the Council or anyone. The thing to remember is that Orbán has competed with Brussels on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for 16 years and issued checks on Saturdays and Sundays. That’s the game, right? I don’t think there’s anything the EU can do one way or the other here. If it still plays hard, “he will play softly.
Orbán’s previous four election campaigns were all built around the idea of Hungary facing a dark and dangerous threat from outside, portraying himself as a man of destiny – the only one who can protect a country besieged by plotting enemies.
The enemies have been the faceless financial champions of the world, the international institutions, the international elites of the left and, of course, always the European Union. “We know very well the nature of the uninvited comrades who help, and we recognize them even when instead of uniforms with paulettes, they wear well-tailored suits,” Orbán once said, when his controversial changes to Hungary’s constitution were opposed by the EU.
Time MAGA heavyweights are not shy in recent weeks to be motivated to find their most loyal European ideological ally – this week Reuters reported that US Vice President JD Vance may be sent to Budapest with the intention of giving Orbán an electoral boost. But the leaders of the European Union until last week were more careful and careful to try to stay on top of the election race to avoid being accused of interfering in the election.
‘Pyrrhic Victory’
While denying that Orbán in any way led EU leaders into a trap, Fidesz MEP András László agreed that the conflict could help the Hungarian leader secure a fifth consecutive term as prime minister. “Mr. Orbán kept his promise. Isn’t that what every citizen wants from politicians?” And with a touch of tact, he told POLITICO: “It was not the reaction of the EU partners that could have helped us in this election, it was the fact that Mr. Orbán stood his ground and did not give in to the pressure.”
