🇪🇺🏳️🌈⚖️🇭🇺 A legal earthquake - CJEU finds Hungary to have violated EU law on multiple counts with its anti-LGBT+ legislation (as expected) but also for the first time in history, in an EU law-reshaping precedent, finds Hungary to violate Art 2 TEU in a self-standing manner.
Hungary handed Magyar & Tisza a historic victory & now the real work begins!
👉How can a new government restore trust & reform a system stacked against it?
👉What does this mean for the EU’s #Ruleoflaw agenda?
Register for our webinar & join the discussion: bit.ly/3Orir2O
📆Wed 15 April ⏰11:00 CEST
Have a bird's eye view of party programmes in our comparative tables, and don't forget to check our analysis of candidates and their positions in the five key areas by Dr Zgut-Przybylska.
Read 👉 bit.ly/4srlxlp
Ideology
🟠 Fidesz: Eurosceptic populism mixed with nationalism and conspiracy theories
🔴 Tisza: Post-ideological, centre-right, technocratic. Trying to appeal to everyone
🟢 Mi Hazánk: Ethnonationalism, demographic policy, cultural conservatism
International orientation 🗺️
🟠 Fidesz: Alignment with Trump & Russia is "sovereignty." The EU, Ukraine & Germany are the threats.
🔴 Tisza: Back to the EU mainstream, while defending national interests.
🟢 Mi Hazánk: Strongly Eurosceptic, pro-Russian, national autonomy over EU integration.
Corruption 💰
🔴 Tisza: Systemic anti-corruption reform & accountability
🟢 Mi Hazánk: Tax the oligarchs, recover assets
🟠 Fidesz: What corruption? Look at our economic performance.
On media freedom 🗞️
🔴 Tisza: Calls out Fidesz's grip on public broadcasting & concentration of private media ownership
🟠 Fidesz: Doesn't deny it, just frames the criticism as politically motivated
🟢 Mi Hazánk: Focused on keeping out "foreign influence," not on pluralism
Let’s now see party positions on different areas.
Rule of law ⚖️
🟠 Fidesz defends the status quo
🔴 Tisza wants meritocratic institutions & restored rule of law
🟢Mi Hazánk calls for sweeping constitutional change framed as "reclaiming sovereignty"
🟠Fidesz(Orbán): "Sovereignty first." Defend the current order, align with Russia, frame the EU, Ukraine, and Germany as threats.
🔴 Tisza(Magyar): Rule of law, depoliticisation, reintegration into EU mainstream.
🟢 Mi Hazánk: Far-right, pro-Russian, ethnonationalist. Even harder-line than Fidesz.
Since 2010, Fidesz has systematically dismantled democratic checks and balances, stacking the deck against opposition parties.
This isn't just another election. It's a make-or-break moment for Hungarian democracy.
Hungary votes this Sunday. Three parties, each with a starkly different vision for the country's future.
Edit Zgut-Przybylska helped us analyse party programmes, compare positions across five key areas, and outline possible scenarios after the election.
👇
Join us 5 May in Brussels for the Nets4Dem conference by @eurocities.eu and @tepsa.bsky.social 👏
We're bringing together cities, EU institutions and civil society for insights, collaboration, and even an award for democratic innovation 🏆
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Let’s talk impact.
What did Nets4Dem achieve in 2025?
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🇺🇦🇦🇱⚖️🇪🇺 If you like what we're doing at @democracyreporting.bsky.social , consider following two of my colleagues who are a bit BlueSky-shy: our Special Advisor for Ukraine, Oleksandr Iakymenko @iakymenko.bsky.social and our new Research Officer, Arnisa Tepelija @arnisatepelija.bsky.social
Learn more, in this op-ed from @meyer-resende.bsky.social: bit.ly/4bHVb8C
Small and middle powers (= almost all states) should regard international law as a matter of self-interest. International law is, in the words of Martti Koskenniemi, “the gentle civilizer of nations”.
Why this matters for middle powers 👇
Law and legitimacy make foreign policy sustainable and stable, touching on core interests — from military security to energy supply. Germany, as a middle power — and Europe, as a collection of middle powers — cannot afford to ignore the rules.
That’s no surprise. Most people neither like cynicism nor naivety. International law codified values of international co-operation and behavior.
Foreign policy is a mix of interests and values
At DRI we asked German citizens about foreign policy. Our poll found:
• 12% support purely interest-driven foreign policy
• 10% support purely value-driven policy
• The majority prefer a mixture of both
Which brings us to the question of consistency. If Europe talks about international law only when it affects Europe (Ukraine, Greenland), but not elsewhere (Iran, Gaza), it destroys the idea of international law.
Take Europe’s sanction regime against Russia. It is based on the finding that Russia’s war against Ukraine is a massive violation of the most basic tenets of international law.
The culture-war frame is seductive, because it’s simple. But international law is part of realpolitik. It is woven into every aspect of foreign policy.
International law is often forced into the categories of culture war: If you invoke it, you must be a naive do-gooder.
But if you are an adult, who understands Realpolitik, you only look at hard power.
This framing is wrong.
Those who understand foreign policy only as hard power overlook how much states benefit from rules – especially middle powers like Germany.
The clinics are part of the ACCESS – Ukraine project, implemented by DRI in cooperation with the Rule of Law Centre at the University of Helsinki and Ukrainian partners.
Inside the 4th Rule of Law Clinic in Helsinki 🇫🇮🇺🇦
Last week, we brought together Ukrainian justice professionals and Finnish experts to explore mediation and ADR in practice, to help strengthen access to justice and ease court burdens in Ukraine.
A court decision, an election research project, and the Digital Services Act - our new op-ed with @freiheitsrechte.org breaks down how we sued X for publicly available data. And won.
Read it here 👉🏽 bit.ly/3N4c8BP
8/8 Read the full story of how a small legal team used the EU Charter to make history for LGBTQ+ rights across the EU. 🔗 bit.ly/4rGUVNJ
Proud to be on the STARLIGHT journey with our partners @hertieschool.bsky.social @hungarianhelsinki.bsky.social and support from the @ec.europa.eu
7/8 The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is a powerful legal tool but it's still underused! 💪
STARLIGHT trains strategic litigators to change that. Rulings like this one happen when lawyers have access to the right skills, networks, and tools 🔽
6/8 So where does STARLIGHT come in?
Before joining the case, lawyer Artur Kula received training on the EU Charter through the STARLIGHT project.
"My STARLIGHT experience was important because I took a special interest in the Charter aspects of the case." — Artur Kula