About this episode

The episode discusses the potential political change in Hungary with the upcoming elections and features insights from two guests.

It has been 16 years since Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party assumed power in Hungary – and it might have begun to feel like things could never change. But with a parliamentary election just around the corner, there’s now a glimmer – a hint! a twinkle! – of hope that the EU's most illiberal government could finally be on its way out. This week, we’re devoting the entire episode to the April 12 elections: what’s certain, what remains to be seen, and most importantly, what’s at stake. And to make sense of it all, we’re joined by two Budapest-based friends of the podcast: the novelist Krisztián Marton, and Viktória Serdült, reporter at HVG, one of the last surviving bastions of independent journalism in Hungary. “At last, a figure has emerged who could wrench power from Viktor Orbán in Hungary” – Viktória Serdült for The Guardian, 18 December 2024 Paul the Octopus on Wikipedia Krisztián Marton on Instagram Viktória Serdült on X This week’s Hungary-themed Inspiration Station recommendations are the song “Tizenhat” by Elefánt, the documentary The Trap , and the FT series The Orbán System . MISS OUR NORMAL PROGRAMMING? This week’s edition of our newsletter, Good Week Bad Week, has you…

People in this episode

Hosts: Katy Lee, Dominic Kraemer

Guests: Krisztián Marton, Viktória Serdült

Topics covered

• Hungary
• Viktor Orbán
• EU elections
• independent journalism
• political change

Keywords

• Viktor Orbán
• Fidesz
• Hungary elections
• independent journalism
• Krisztián Marton
• Viktória Serdült

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Fidesz, HVG

Books & works: Tizenhat, The Trap, The Orbán System

Places: Hungary

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