What Hungary's election means for the U.S.

WBUR | By Here & Now Newsroom

Published April 10, 2026 at 10:02 AM MDT

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban smiles before a pre-election rally in Budapest, Hungary, Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (Denes Erdos/AP)

On Sunday, Hungarians go to the polls to elect a new parliament. It’s an important election for the European Union and its position toward Russia.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who’s been in power since 2010 and is an icon of the far-right in the United States and around the world, could be toppled. In the polls, his party is trailing behind Peter Magyar’s center-right Tisza party.

Here & Now‘s Scott Tong speaks with Kim Lane Scheppele, a professor of international affairs at Princeton University who studies authoritarianism, about what’s at stake in this election in and outside Hungary.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.