On 12 April, Hungarian voters will go to the polls in the nation's 10th national election since victory over communism. For 16 years, Hungarian politics has been dominated by Viktor Orban's Fidesz party, and, in recent years, the Hungarian government has shifted towards populist eurosceptic, euroalternativist, and pro-Kremlin positions while the population increasingly demonstrates frustration, fatigue, and hostility towards the incumbent administration. Opinion polling shows a tightening race between competing parties in an increasingly polarised electorate, with world leaders and influencers taking opposing sides. In an era of war in Europe, rising political fatigue and euroalternativism, political interference and sacralisation, and the prospect of a looming global economic downturn, how will Hungary's elections shape the country, Europe, and the Western alliance?

The event is taking place in room 1.01, Bush House South East building.

SPEAKERS

• Dr Lee Savage, Reader in Comparative Politics, King's College London.
• Dr Balazs Szent-Ivanyi, Associate Professor of Political Economy, Aston University.
• Dr Sherrill Strochstein, Reader in Politics, University College London.

DISCUSSION

• Has Hungary in recent years represented a wider European shift to the ethnonationalist right, or is it an outlier?
• What challenges and opportunities face an incoming replacement government to Fidesz (assuming Orban's defeat)? What challenges and opportunities would Fidesz face if re-elected?
• If Fidesz does lose, how might they and other European populist radical right parties narrate a loss?
• What are the implications of this election for the national and continental economy, EU-ropean security, and the defence of Ukraine in particular?
• How might the end of Orban (or his success) change political dynamics in Hungary, the EU, Europe, NATO, and the wider West in an era of global conflict and a coming economic crisis?