10 Years of Hate

Bugs, the banning of Pride, incitement against Ukraine — in 2025, Fidesz faces the looming threat of defeat, and Viktor Orbán’s camp has launched a counterattack. Many expect the most brutal campaign the regime has ever conducted. There’s nothing new about the method. Just as this isn’t the first time Orbán’s power has been in danger. Stolen public funds, the internet tax, brokerage scandals, the U.S. entry ban, the so-called "G-Day" — ten years ago, Fidesz’s support plummeted within months, and their system fell into crisis almost immediately after winning the 2014 election. But the arrival of masses fleeing war offered a perfect opportunity to test a new strategy. And the experiment worked: this was the moment when hate became the cornerstone of the Orbán regime.

• Bálint Klopfstein-LászlóDirector