Rob Cameron

If Orbán falls, something much bigger could collapse with him. Not just power in Hungary - but a network built across Europe. I’ve been reporting on what’s at stake: robjcameron.substack.com/p/ripples-on-t…

Hungary election turnout at 9am: 16.89% - up on 2022. Early spikes are normal, but if this holds into pm, it points to a more mobilised electorate. This is not a routine election. There's more at stake, and not just for Hungary. I wrote about it here: robjcameron.substack.com/p/ripples-on-t…

Viktor Orban's model of 'illiberal conservatism' has been exported world over - its basics found in AfD, Le Pen, MAGA and Reform UK. After 16 years, the results are in. And Hungarians go to the polls tomorrow. My column on the lessons of Orbanism:- times-comment.com/orban

The first turnout numbers are out and they're high. By 7 a.m., 3.46% of eligible voters had cast their ballot, according to the National Election Office of Hungary. That is almost double the turnout at the same time four years ago, when it was 1.82%. Early voting is strongest in Bács-Kiskun County at 3.66% and Tolna County at 3.64%. Only three counties remain below 3%, with the lowest participation so far in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County at 2.75%. The National Election Office of Hungary is publishing turnout figures every two hours today, at 09:00, 11:00, 13:00, 15:00, 17:00 and 18:30, with polls closing at 19:00.

💥Hungary’s opposition leader Péter Magyar vows investigations into Russian interference and against foreign minister Péter Szijjártó after our consortium revealed recordings and transcripts showing his collusion with Sergey Lavrov to leak EU documents and undermine EU sanctions.

Hungarian money has been pouring into British pockets. Apart from the Mathias Corvinus Collegium which funds MattGPT, here’s the Danube Institute Orbán’s foreign ‘fellow travellers’ cite privacy to shield state-funded payouts english.atlatszo.hu/2026/04/08/orb… via @atlatszo

@BBCRobC "...but a network built across Europe." Not only in EU. It will also have an nice impact on the midterm elections in the U.S. One of CPAC’s biggest sponsors was the MCC Foundation. These things affect each other in a back-and-forth way.

@andraslederer put it to me like this:

If Orbán falls, something much bigger could collapse with him. Not just power in Hungary - but a network built across Europe. I’ve been reporting on what’s at stake: robjcameron.substack.com/p/ripples-on-t…

@Nephrazu Nevím, žiju tady.

@BBCRobC The Bolshevik Broadcasting channel is surely a news outlet to follow... Anyway how is life in shit hole called UK?

What happens in Hungary on Sunday won’t stay in Hungary. Orbán’s potential fall - or survival - will likely shape the trajectory of 🇸🇰 Fico + 🇨🇿 Babiš as well. This isn’t just an election. This is where the populist model either breaks or holds. open.substack.com/pub/robjcamero…

"Ramble On" is 56 years old and Robert Plant just walked onto The Late Show and made it sound like he wrote it this morning.

The first people the communists murdered in Czechoslovakia was the leader of the anti-Nazi resistance Milada Horakova, and the leader of the allied exile army Helidor Pika. In every European country they seized power, the first people they murdered were those who fought the Nazis

@barnardlianne1 One of the wackier theories. There are a lot of them. MI6 did it etc... The more I've read (and having stood at the window) the more I'm convinced that his habit of sitting on the window ledge at night reading (to combat insomnia) got the better of him. But what do I know.

@BBCRobC I recently found out about Masaryk's involvement in sending weapons to the new Israel in 1948. Didn't research it futher, but this woman implies this is linked to his death and the Slansky trials: youtube.com/watch?v=A2cYnj…

A man falls from a window in Prague. The regime calls it suicide. Many never believed it. I stood at the spot and tried to piece together what really happened. It’s still one of the most suspicious deaths in modern Czech history. Full story here: robjcameron.substack.com/p/the-man-who-…

Orban makes a big deal of Hungarians being a people of the broader Turkic world. Turkic tribes believed their ruler should posses kut, ~ luck/good fortune, to claim legitimacy. If a ruler was perceived to have lost kut, it was grounds for his removal. Orban clearly lost his kut

“Babiš realised during his first term as prime minister that he can’t control the country the way Orbán can.” @JindrichSidlo2 Hungary votes on Sunday. But the reverberations will be felt far beyond Budapest. Read why it matters: robjcameron.substack.com/p/ripples-on-t…

@StratAnalysisSK Of course. And seems there was some mutual back-scratching with the 'pipeline bomb' thing. Not that it seems to have done Orban much good.

@BBCRobC True. It will have impact on Slovak elections next year, but much more imminent impact it will have on Serbia and Vučić regime there. It is not that often understood, but Orban regime is crucial for Vucic regime in Serbia and Dodik’s regime in Republika Srpska in BIH!

@BBCRobC Fico isn’t particularly brave. I expect that, without Orbán, Fico will not be willing to bear the brunt of being the primary obstacle to everything.

“The biggest threat for Fico is a pro-European Hungary, because then Slovaks would see that this is possible, that Fico’s not going to be there forever.” — @MartinPoliacik Hungary votes on Sunday. This is why it matters beyond Budapest: robjcameron.substack.com/p/ripples-on-t…

Hungary votes on Sunday - but what matters next is how the result lands in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Especially for Babiš and Fico. I break it down: robjcameron.substack.com/p/ripples-on-t…