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Brussels Playbook Podcast

After 16 years, Viktor Orbán loses

Brussels Playbook Podcast

POLITICO

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.4202 Ratings

🗓️ 13 April 2026

⏱️ 15 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

It’s the end of an era: Hungary’s Viktor Orbán is on the way out after suffering a crushing defeat in Hungary’s general election. Péter Magyar, who will take his place as prime minister, is on course to win a supermajority in parliament. In this election special, host Ian Wishart speaks with reporter Max Griera who’s been at the victorious Tisza watch party in Budapest and Jamie Dettmer, our foreign affairs columnist, who’s also in the Hungarian capital. They discuss what Magyar’s victory means for the country following years of democratic backsliding and illiberal democracy. Plus, how this new leader might mend Budapest’s fractured relationship with Brussels — thanks in large part to Orbán’s obstructionism and pro-Russian stance. How do you feel about the results? Did you vote in the election? Send us your thoughts via WhatsApp here or via +32 491 05 06 29. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:29.8

Good morning or you're a gelt, as they say in Hungary.

0:33.9

It's Monday the 13th of April and this is the Brussels Playbook podcast.

0:43.6

The vibe in Brussels and Budapest today is that this is a new era.

0:49.8

Victor Orbán has lost.

0:52.3

The longest serving European Union leader, the man who has fought against the EU machine

0:57.0

and stopped it from pushing through some of its most high-profile policies,

1:01.0

who is a friend of Vladimir Putin and was ferociously supported by Donald Trump,

1:05.0

who was accused by the European mainstream for curbing democracy and limiting media and judicial freedoms,

1:12.0

who has sat around the EU table for the past 16 years. He suffered a crashing defeat in Hungary's

1:18.1

general election last night. Peter Magyar is done course for a huge majority. Over the next

1:25.6

few minutes in the podcast this morning, we'll look at the result and discuss what it means for Hungary, for Europe and for the world.

1:32.3

I'm me and Wishart, Politico's Senior EU Politics Editor. We're actually recording this shortly after midnight here in Brussels, so that we can talk with our two reporters on the ground in Budapest, who have been out with the two main parties

1:45.5

and who have been covering the election there for the past few weeks.

1:49.2

Max Greer has been with Peter Magia's victorious Tisa party,

1:53.2

and Jamie Detmer has been attending other watch parties around Budapest.

1:59.5

Good morning, gentlemen. So Orban conceded defeat shortly after 9pm. That was much earlier

...

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