Uffe Dreesen

Russia’s government paper: “What went against Orbán was his unprecedentedly long time in office...16 years in a row, 20 in total. The fatigue factor, growing tired of the same people is psychologically understandable.” A reminder: it’s writing about Hungary. #ReadingRussia

The Iran war increasingly looks not only like another shocking humiliation but perhaps the greatest strategic blunder in American military history. trib.al/Y3eQ1Se

McFaul: I did not support Trump’s decision to go to war with Iran. Every president wanted to stop Iran getting a nuclear weapon. The question was how. Under Obama we used coercive diplomacy. Trump tore up that deal and reached for force first. 1/

Pretty much the whole of Europe and even China have congratulated Magyar on his landslide victory, but not the two autocratic leaders Putin & Trump.

Applebaum's line is the one to hold: "If Orbán can lose, then his Russian and American admirers can lose too." The model was supposed to be unbeatable. Capture the courts first. Then the media. Rewrite the electoral rules so challengers need a landslide just to break even. Build the international network of illiberal funders and validators. Make corruption invisible by making it structural. Magyar beat it anyway... and the tapes that broke late in the campaign showed why it was vulnerable. Orbán spent 16 years railing about foreign interference - Soros, Brussels, migrants - while privately telling Putin he was the mouse to his lion. The sovereignty rhetoric was a performance. The dependency was real. The crowd at Heroes' Square Friday night chanted "Russians, go home." Same words as 1956. Seventy years later, same answer. The EU's blocked €90 billion Ukraine loan now has a path. Putin loses his primary EU veto. The MAGA movement loses its proof of concept. History does not bend. It gets pushed.

Here is what Peter Magyar plans to do first as Hungary's new leader: 1. pass a new constitution 2. unlock $20 billion in frozen EU funds 3. introduce a wealth tax, repair ties with Ukraine and the EU 4. fix a near-junk credit rating, writes Bloomberg. 1/

Within 10 days, parts of the global economy will start running short of critical goods After 30 years studying economic sanctions and blockades, I don’t say this lightly: --Not just higher prices --Shortages. Markets are not ready for this

The US ambassador has called the speaker of Poland's parliament a "menace" and "notorious ex-communist apparatchik" in response to an interview in which the Polish official called President Trump "irrational" and a "leader of chaos" notesfrompoland.com/2026/04/13/us-…

🇬🇪🇭🇺Viktor Orbán lost Hungary's election yesterday. For most Europeans, this is a relief. For Georgian Dream, it is a strategic catastrophe. Their single most important protector in Europe is gone. Here's what that actually means. 1/6 @MakaB__

Anne Applebaum: “Orbán’s loss brings to an end the assumption of inevitability that has pervaded the MAGA movement, as well as the belief—also present in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rhetoric—that illiberal parties are somehow destined not just to win but to hold power forever, because they have the support of the “real” people. As it turns out, history doesn’t work like that. “Real” people grow tired of their rulers. Old ideas become stale. Younger people question orthodoxy. Illiberalism leads to corruption. “And if Orbán can lose, then his Russian and American admirers can lose too.” open.substack.com/pub/charliesyk…

A series of disjointed, hard-to-follow and sometimes-profane comments capped by threatening to wipe out Iran and attacking the pope have left many with the impression of a deranged autocrat mad with power and revived the debate about Trump's mental health. nytimes.com/2026/04/13/us/…

Like 1989

@FlorianDreaming Mag sein, aber es ist wurscht. Der Abstand ist zu groß. Aber die Orbanisten sitzen überall drinnen, von den Höchstgerichten bis im öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunk. Diese Denke wieder loszuwerden, wird schwieriger werden, als die Wahlen zu gewinnen.

@PHoeres Lieber Peter: Prognose. Er wusste, das geht schief. Es gibt eine Absprache: Sanfter Übergang gegen Straffreiheit. Alles andere bestätigt jetzt nur gerade die Vorurteile der voreingenommenen Zeitgenossen.

Make election interference great again, @JDVance.

Der globale Schock einer amerikanischen Blockade der Straße von Hormus wird größer sein als der finanzielle Druck auf den Iran.

Record turnout by Hungarian voters was too much for Orbán's dirty tricks or to deny. He didn’t want exile or worse. Will see as his epic corruption is exposed. I hope this is the "Hungarian model" that applies to the US midterms, which usually have low, <50% turnout. Vote!

Another triumph for American diplomacy

Not even the gaming of the electoral playing field — or state capture rolled out over a decade-and-half in power — could save Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán from a crushing defeat today. politico.eu/article/orban-…

If Hungary can free itself from the rule of a corrupt Russian agent, the USA can too.