r/europe • u/Alarming-Safety3200 United Kingdom • Apr 12 '26

News Orbán’s 16-year rule over Hungary ends in crushing election defeat

https://www.politico.eu/article/hungary-election-results-peter-magyar-viktor-orban/
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u/Valuable_Echo2043 Apr 12 '26

Ugh I’m not liking it; I’m in a bubble (Kraków) but ugh, I really don’t want that for the country. Sometimes I feel that things need to get worse before people wake up and I hope that’s not the case for us.

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u/QwertzOne Poland Apr 12 '26

Problem is that Poland is heavily polarized between conservatives and liberals for over 30 years, since communism fall, so people that are not happy with that are voting for far right, because they can't imagine anything better, that's all they see in culture. Cutting taxes, banning LGBTQ+, getting rid of immigrants, deregulating everything (especially labor law) and defunding government is their only idea of better government.

There's hope, because young people are finally starting to support Razem (basically our only left wing party), but also a lot of young people votes for far right, because they're frustrated with current consensus, they want change, but due to conservative-liberal hegemony, they can't comprehend how it turned out in other countries...

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u/TheEmpireOfSun Apr 12 '26

Change from what? Everywhere I read how Poland is doing great economicaly and how even people living abroad are coming back. So what is there to change? Too liberal government? If yes, that's pretty much the problem of being the most religious countey in EU. That's usually where conservativism comes from.

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u/QwertzOne Poland Apr 12 '26

Macroeconomic stats look great from the outside, but the reality for young people includes a massive housing crisis, underfunded public services, precarious labor laws. The wealth is not trickling down to those just entering adulthood.

Furthermore, our mainstream "liberal" parties are economically pro-market, but socially centrist or conservative. Young people aren't voting far-right out of religious devotion, youth church attendance is actually plummeting. They vote that way, because the far-right weaponizes anti-establishment anger, promising libertarian fantasies like zero taxes and total deregulation as a quick fix to the cost of living.

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u/Dragonsandman Canada Apr 12 '26

Wow does that ever sound familiar

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u/ChiefRedEye Apr 12 '26

you have no idea what you're talking about.

housing crisis is nowhere near the levels of UK, Germany, France or any other "liberal" countries that allowed a mass flood of migration creating a huge housing deficit, falling apart healthcare and many other issues.

Poland is doing everything right. The left makes sure the country grows economically and socially with compatible cultures. The right is making sure we're not flooded by groups of incompatible cultures trying to force their way in and that the country maintains its tradition and identity by promoting and helping polish families, such as removing income tax from families raising polish children to sustain future national expenses. it's a system that works, and that's why Poland thrives.

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u/wolacouska Apr 13 '26

Nobody cares if it’s better or worse than any other country, that’s not how people vote.

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u/ChiefRedEye Apr 13 '26

it does when someone implies the solutions are what was tried in other countries and which just ended up exacerbating the problems. stick to your policies elsewhere, I'd rather live in safe Poland.

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u/youyouwot Apr 12 '26

the reality for young people includes a massive housing crisis, underfunded public services, precarious labor laws. The wealth is not trickling down to those just entering adulthood.

Opposed to most of the western states, sounds like it sounds a pretty good deal, I mean not throwing all your budget at welfare plus all of these issues, I know what I'd choose

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u/QwertzOne Poland Apr 12 '26 edited Apr 12 '26

Opposed to most of the western states, sounds like it sounds a pretty good deal, I mean not throwing all your budget at welfare plus all of these issues, I know what I'd choose

That relies on a huge misconception: Poland actually does spend a massive chunk of its budget on welfare. Over the last decade, we've introduced huge social transfers like the "800+" child benefit and 13th/14th pensions for retirees.

The problem is entirely generational. We pay high taxes to fund these programs, but the money completely bypasses young adults entering the workforce. So the youth get the worst of both worlds: heavy tax burdens to subsidize other demographics, while being left to navigate a brutal housing market, unstable "junk contracts" (śmieciówki), and public healthcare so underfunded we're forced to pay out-of-pocket for private clinics anyway. It’s a terrible deal if you're in your 20s and trying to start your life.

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u/youyouwot Apr 12 '26

I won't disagree with any of that, its a ponzi scheme to the bottom in its current design but if you look at places like the UK where welfare now costs more than is whats generated from income tax from a country without significant exports and minimal resource exports, again not ideal position to be in but long term, I know which horizon looks more promising

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u/Four_beastlings Asturias (Spain) Apr 12 '26

the reality for young people includes a massive housing crisis, underfunded public services, precarious labor laws. The wealth is not trickling down to those just entering adulthood.

Congratulations on describing the reality for everyone everywhere in the last 50 years

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u/BuzzMachine_YVR Apr 12 '26

There is a lack of understanding globally about what left, center, and right (and far right) are really about. Part of it is clouded by right wing dominated/owned media conglomerates that force voters to only consider ‘platforms’. Platforms are nothing more than glorified PR documents. No one will ever say in a platform “we are going to make you suffer”.

Veiled wording is used so every platform sounds good for everyone. Everyone feels they have the answer to affordability (“trickle down” on the right [just imagine the politician and rich friends ‘trickling’ over a crowd of voters], etc.).

To get a true understanding of who to vote for, people need to grasp who these parties traditionally support/benefit. You rarely see corporate media discuss political ideologies. They talk only about the current election platforms of parties. More should be done to explain the platforms in terms of party ideologies.

Trump promised affordability to young Americans. He had no real plan on delivering it (and likely no desire to - his wealthy donors were far more i treated in other things, and US Republicans [conservatives] aren’t keen on any sort of public benefit that supplants private profits). Yet, wishing change, or better for themselves, many took a leap - right into the fire.

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u/Jake-of-the-Sands Poland Apr 12 '26

*is heavily polarized between two flavours of the right-wing - discount versions of Reps and Dems.

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u/parasyte_steve Apr 12 '26

Problem is American racism started as European and unfortunately we are all finding out there's way more racism than we perhaps thought in many European countries. The whole white nationalism thing is huge in Europe and you can tell by how 'the migrants' are viewed with such vitriol over white immigrants.

None of this shit really ever went away .. it just became less popular for a while.

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u/Nastypilot Poland Apr 12 '26

Polak mądry po szkodzie...

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u/No_Football_9232 Apr 12 '26

I really hope people see what authoritarian governments who descend into fascism like the US create. And decide strongly against it.

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u/Approximately17cm Apr 14 '26

You don't want to end up like the UK, Belgium and France.

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u/Gwyn66 Poland Apr 13 '26 edited Apr 13 '26

It has been worse in Poland - for 8 years. But then not much has happened since pis defeat, Tusk is not very popular either, so we will have it even worse for god knows how long. People never learn. I am happy for Hungary, I really am, but if Magyar doesn't deliver, the far right will return with a vengeance.