Oh look, it’s me and it’s Monday. I’m getting on the Substack video/live chat bandwagon. So, ta-da! I’m planning a number of other chats in the coming weeks, on Peru, the race for the next UN Secretary-General, and a few book chats.
I was eager to do this chat about Victor Orbán’s ousting and what comes next now that Péter Magyar has taken power—he officially came to office on May 5—with Zsuzsanna Végh.
Zsuzsanna is a program officer with the German Marshall Fund’s European Resilience program in Berlin. I’ve been following her writings and perspectives for quite a while now, so it was an amazing opportunity to sit down with her. She was one of the few people who really focused on Hungarian public opinion and the mood in the country, rather than Orbán’s global role and focus.
We cover a lot of ground in our 30-minute conversation: whether Orbán and Fidesz, who amassed enormous power over 16 years, will actually lose it; what kind of leader Magyar will be; and what his government will mean for women. At the heart of all these questions is the fact that Magyar is a conservative nationalist who began his political career in Fidesz. That said, Zsuzsanna notes that many who voted for Magyar did so not because of his ideology or politics, but because they wanted Orbán out.
That could be good news for women. Magyar will not govern as a liberal, and he avoided talking about women’s issues and LGBTQ+ rights on the campaign trail. Still, he is unlikely to continue Orbán’s policies unchanged. On election night, Magyar said “everyone can live with, and love, whomever they want, as long as they do not violate the laws and do not harm others."
He is also likely to move away from casting women solely as mothers and wives, taking a more progressive—or what Zsuzsanna called a more “normal”—approach to women. (This is another reason to like Zsuzsanna). Several women now hold key cabinet posts, including his deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Anita Orbán (no relations to Viktor).
Watch the full conversation to understand why Magyar’s victory may be a break from Orbánism—but not necessarily a turn toward liberalism.
