In late 1980s Hungary, courageous environmental protests against an unpopular dam project played a part in the eventual collapse of the country’s communist regime. Originally focused on protecting the quality of drinking water for about 3 million Hungarians, some of the largest demonstrations seen since the 1956 revolution came also to symbolise a wider rejection of one-party political rule. An era was coming to an end, as authority began to drain away.
It would be premature to predict a similar fate for Viktor Orbán’s self-styled “illiberal” government, which presides over what the European parliament has described as a “hybrid regime of electoral autocracy”. Mr Orbán has ruthlessly consolidated his power since becoming prime minister in 2010, not least through gradually exercising a suffocating hold across the media and civil society. But the extraordinary events of the weekend, after his government’s attempts to ban Budapest’s annual Pride parade, suggest a new vulnerability.
