Endgame or entrenchment? Hungary's parliamentary election in comparative perspective

• Max Weber Programme for Postdoctoral Studies

Organized by the Eastern Europe as Laboratory of Change Working Group, this roundtable event features a discussion on the recent Hungarian general elections.

Hungary holds its most consequential parliamentary election for decades on 12 April 2026. Pollsters and betting markets predict that a neck-and-neck race might end Viktor Orbán's 16-year-long rule, following an opposition realignment and the coalescence of regime critiques behind the new TISZA party, founded by a Fidesz defector. Our experts will discuss what a genuine transfer of power would require and whether current conditions allow for it, how the results will affect the European Union and political developments in neighboring nations, how centrist challengers running on an anti-corruption platform and Russian interference fit into a wider pattern of elections in the Central and Eastern European region, and whether the extreme-right can have a kingmaker role, should the elections yield a hung parliament.

All interested fellows, PhD researchers, professors, visiting academics and staff are invited to participate. The event is open also to the general public. The Zoom link will be shared with registered participants only.