Péter Magyar’s historic defeat of Viktor Orbán in Hungary’s recent election was rightly celebrated in progressive circles and beyond. For the global far right, which has been steadily gaining power and influence for over a decade, this was a significant reverse. But it was no victory for the left. A former member of Mr Orbán’s Fidesz party, Mr Magyar will lead a centre‑right conservative government in a parliament where the only opposition will come from Fidesz and a small party with neo-Nazi roots.
Across the rest of central Europe, it is much the same story. Bulgaria last week elected a nationalist, Moscow‑friendly prime minister, Rumen Radev, who will take a draconian line on migration and is a fierce critic of the European Union’s green deal. The country’s Socialist party, a presence in parliament since 1989, failed to win a single seat.
