Hungary

From World Questions by BBC World Service

January 17, 2026 · 49 min

About this episode

A debate on Hungarian politics featuring leading politicians and academics ahead of the upcoming elections.

Jonny Dymond chairs a debate with leading Hungarian politicians and academics who take questions from the public across Hungary. With elections due in April, can the right-wing populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has been in power for 15 years, hold off his main political challenger? The Panel: Andras Laszlo, MEP, Fidesz Party Timea Szabo, MP, PM Green Party Boris Kalnoky, journalist and analyst. Head of the Media School at Mathias Corvinus Collegium Zsuzsanna Szelenyi, author and research fellow at Central European University Democracy Institute Producer: Helen Towner Sound engineers: Syd Dundon, Kate Barker and Joe Lawrence (Photo: Supporters of Peter Magyar, leader of the opposition TISZA party, waving Hungarian flags. Credit: Janos Kummer/Getty Images)

People in this episode

Host: Jonny Dymond

Guests: Andras Laszlo, Timea Szabo, Boris Kalnoky, Zsuzsanna Szelenyi

Topics covered

Hungary
politics
elections
right-wing populism
public debate

Keywords

Hungary
Viktor Orban
elections
politics
public debate
right-wing populism

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Fidesz Party, PM Green Party, Mathias Corvinus Collegium, Central European University Democracy Institute, TISZA party