Tisza is the “Heineken of Hungarian politics” - reached places other (opposition) parties could’t/ didnt comments Tom Lorman.

Zsofia Stavri and Eszter Tarsoly discuss different aspects of Tisza grassroots game - effect community building, local “islands” and lots of merch.

Dr Tom Lorman brings in a historical perspective - Hungarian oppositions have rarely won elections. Where they have mostly after 1989. Hungarian politics now is still competitive and voting changes things.

. @aliz-toth.bsky.social our next speaker points out how Orbán’s patronage networks failed to deliver. Check out her EUROPP blog for more on this.

Roundtable event with speakers

Paul Fox, former UK ambassador to Hungary and an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at @uclssee opens up our roundtable on the results and consequences of the recent election - expect across the board change and reset in European relations.

Nigel Farage being healed by Putin while Tice and Anderson look on.

Outrageous! Looks nothing like Richard or Lee.

New university free speech complaints system to come into force this year Universities could face fines of £500,000 or 2% of their income if they are found to have failed to protect free speech.

According to @hepi-news.bsky.social polling: www.hepi.ac.uk/wp-content/u...) while 70% of students agree that 'universities should never limit free speech', 50% want at least one political party banned from campus. 🤷

“When the network shut down on April 12, the dealers realized it was better for them to keep the money rather than distribute it. Interestingly, local corruption and the interests of democracy coincided at this point: none of us wanted the money to reach the public”

“Vampires don’t like sunlight” – how volunteer poll watchers stopped the vote-buying machine – English Over the past two decades, systemic election fraud, vote-buying for money and drugs, and blackmail has ran rampant in the impoverished countryside of Hungary. W

english.atlatszo.hu/2026/04/17/v...

UPDATE: Bulgaria’s Radev wins decisive election victory, exit polls show Bulgaria’s former president Rumen Radev is on course for a decisive victory in the country’s snap parliamentary elections, with the latest parallel vote counts pointing to a possible outright majority.

Bulgaria’s former president Rumen Radev is on course for a decisive victory in the country’s snap parliamentary elections, with the latest parallel vote counts pointing to a possible outright majority. Bne IntelliNews #BulgariaElections #RumenRadev #ElectionVictory #DemocracyInAction #PoliticalNews

Bulgarian Russia-Sympathizer Radev Is Heading for Election Win Former President Rumen Radev, who opposes sanctions against Russia and military aid for Ukraine, is on track to win Bulgaria’s eighth general election since 2021 and by a margin that gives him a strong chance of ending years of political deadlock.

Former President Rumen Radev, who opposes sanctions against Russia and military aid for Ukraine, is on track to win Bulgaria’s eighth general election since 2021 and may have a chance to end years of political deadlock, an exit poll showed.

Why are UK universities failing? - LSE Impact The HE sector in the UK faces the prospect of a university going into administration. How have universities fallen so low and is change possible?

🗣️"To speak of the “demise” of the UK university is not to suggest its disappearance, but its transformation into something increasingly unrecognisable."

#AcademicSky #HigherEducation

A turning point for Hungary? A SSEESing roundtable on the results and implications of the parliamentary elections

Look out for our upcoming @uclssees round table on Hungary’s elections and their consequences: turning point or false dawn? www.ucl.ac.uk/arts-humanit... Monday 20 April, 6pm (UK time). In-person and online.

UK transfers about 1 billion dollars in frozen Russian assets to Ukraine The United Kingdom has transferred 752 million pounds (about 1 billion dollars) in frozen Russian assets to Ukraine, Ukraine's Finance Ministry said April 15.

⚡️UK transfers about 1 billion dollars in frozen Russian assets to Ukraine.

The United Kingdom has transferred 752 million pounds (about 1 billion dollars) in frozen Russian assets to Ukraine, Ukraine's Finance Ministry said April 15.

Crying over the collapse of the USSR is insane.

Every nation that escaped that failed empire and chose Europe is thriving far beyond what was possible under Moscow.

You simply cannot call yourself an anti-imperialist while mourning the fall of a brutal empire

blogs.ucl.ac.uk/ssees/2026/0...

Peter Duncan obituary Other lives: Lecturer at UCL who wrote books on Russian politics and advised the House of Commons

Our much missed @uclssees colleague Pete Duncan remembered in The Guardian. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...

Could Viktor Orbán be back in 2030? Why Péter Magyar has a fight on his hands after landslide win A key challenge facing Magyar will be to undo the system Orbán has put in place to exercise control over Hungary.

Am getting fed up with the lukewarm hot takes and same/old-same-old insta-punditry on Hungary. But this strikes me as a good question to ask.

Having pretty limited knowledge of Hungary, I don’t know what the answer is.

theconversation.com/could-viktor...

Indeed, uneven playing fields are competitive. oppositions can win sometimes.

But phps more about basic delivery and living standards. The anti-corruption script itself can often be up for grabs by all.

Autocrats’ weakness: eventually push economy and public services into expensive cronyism?

Hungarian opposition ousts Viktor Orbán after 16 years in power Péter Magyar’s Tisza party wins election as prime minister concedes defeat, in result likely to reshape ties with EU

“Tonight, truth prevailed over lies,” said Magyar. An unintended Havel allusion?

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...

You’ve got a big platform with usually interesting and thoughtful content - and there are probably a few interesting non-instapundit lessons one might take for British politics from Hungary (electoral system, reformist right vs right). The daft trivia is tbh a bit disappointing.

It’s a common surname. Maybe focus on the politics?

Únava materiálu, ztráta spojence a konec vydírání EU. Čeští politici reagují na Magyarovo vítězství Podle ministra průmyslu Karla Havlíčka (ANO) je potřeba Orbánovi poděkovat a vyjádřit respekt. „Rozhodla únava materiálu... Lidé chtějí (po 16 letech) určitou změnu,“ uvedl.

Czech politicians universally welcome election of Magyar, but offer different takes.Opposition say a decisive break with authoritarian pro-Russian politics. Populist MFA Macinka says M is eurosceptic and basically good news for conservative right. Both could be right. www.irozhlas.cz/zpravy-svet/...

No, they will calibre /dial down backsliding to what can pass unpunished and do a deal/be bought off. Especially Babiš.

Good point - the limits of constitutional and institutional engineering: the same also applied to liberal democratic structures that Orbán bust through in 2010.

Could also be wise to reform electoral laws out of self interest: faced w tough economic times M’s support may quickly erode/fragment

Focus the mind on Fico and Babiš, perhaps?

Hard to overstate how important this is for Poland after last year's election result. If PiS get back in, they'll no longer be able to count on a mutual protection pact with Hungary against Article 7 proceedings. This will not turn them into ardent liberal democrats, but will focus the mind.

Orbán concedes and focuses on Hungarians voting from neighboring countries (and supporting Fidesz overwhelmingly) as his team looks on shellshocked.

The man on the far left, János Lázár (in a political sense actually far right) will be angling for the party. Mark my words.

Hungary election results live: Orbán concedes to Magyar's Tisza after projections show opposition winning two-thirds majority Veteran nationalist leader Viktor Orbán conceded defeat after a landslide election victory by the upstart opposition Tisza party, in a setback for his allies in Russia and U.S. President Donald Trump'...

Listening to Orbán’s concession speech (CZ TV news channel) one might almost think Hungary was a normal democracy. Given unambiguous result little option & the smart move. Real polit contestation starts now, post-election. Will Orbán have Fico/Trump-eque resilience? www.reuters.com/world/hungar...

Hungary, 31.0% list vote counted:

Seat projection national parliament

TISZA-EPP: 135 (+135)
Fidesz/KDNP-PfE: 57 (-78)
MH-ESN: 7 (+1)

+/- vs. Last election result

➤ europeelects.eu/hungary