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Eastern European Politics

April 24, 2026

The collapse of a patronal system: Tisza’s 2026 electoral breakthrough in Hungary

Sonja Priebus Sonja Priebus argues that the key to Péter Magyar’s landslide victory lay in the incumbent regime’s vulnerability. Magyar’s emergence on the political scene in 2024 caused a crack in the system, and triggered a shift in expectations that enabled Tisza’s victory Read more

April 16, 2026

🔮 Explaining Tisza’s Hungarian breakthrough

Endre Borbáth Endre Borbáth argues that Tisza’s breakthrough in Hungary was not simply the product of anti-incumbent anger or Péter Magyar’s personal appeal. It rested on a combination of cross-cutting grievances, participatory organisation, and intensive campaigning that turned a new party into a credible vehicle for regime change Read more

April 10, 2026

How Péter Magyar is disrupting Hungary’s polarised political landscape

Katinka Linnamäki In this year’s election campaign, argue Katinka Linnamäki and Emilia Palonen, Orbán is facing a formidable, new force. Emerging from the Fidesz cadres in 2023, Péter Magyar launched his attack on Orbán. He has since managed to avoid many of the pitfalls of polarisation that have favoured Orbán previously Read more

April 9, 2026

From Soros to Zelenskyy: Orbán's antisemitic electoral playbook

Cristian Pîrvulescu As Hungary heads to parliamentary elections on 12 April, Cristian Pîrvulescu argues that the billboard campaign targeting Zelensky is not merely anti-Ukrainian rhetoric. Rather, it is the latest iteration of a calculated antisemitic strategy, rooted in the 'Horthy tradition', that has powered Fidesz through four consecutive victories Read more

April 2, 2026

⛓️ From regime crisis management to offensive: Serbia’s rebel universities

Marina Milić In 2024–25, Serbia’s leaderless, decentralised, nonviolent student movement made a rare thing happen: it made fear change sides. In 2026, the government has shifted from managing crowds to tightening procedural control, targeting the institutions that sheltered resistance. Universities, argues Marina Milić, are now the frontline rebels – disciplined through labour rules and a financial ‘kill switch’ Read more

March 26, 2026

🎈 How opposition MPs survive in electoral autocracies

Annamária Sebestyén In countries experiencing democratic backsliding, opposition MPs must confront not only the crisis of political representation but also structural constraints that limit their influence. Drawing on research in Hungary, Annamária Sebestyén argues that in such circumstances opposition MPs develop innovative strategies to remain politically relevant, but these have clear limits Read more

March 3, 2026

Why gender equality is stalling in the Western Balkans

Klaudia Koxha Gender equality is a fundamental EU value and a condition for the accession of new members. Yet political parties in Western Balkan candidate countries rarely prioritise it. Klaudia Koxha explains why: parties respond when Brussels and voters agree, but go quiet when their positions clash, especially on LGBTQ+ rights Read more

February 16, 2026

🧭 How economic governance makes or breaks EU enlargement

Visnja Vukov Comparing Central and Eastern Europe with the Western Balkans, Visnja Vukov argues that the EU’s governance of economic integration is a decisive lever of transformation. When the EU prioritises and credibly enforces these requirements, it constrains rent-seeking and weakens state capture. When the EU defers them, however, governments can entrench clientelist political–economic coalitions Read more

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