The curse of Donald Trump has not failed to make its mark. After Anthony Albanese in Australia and Mark Carney in Canada, Péter Magyar wins elections in Hungary despite the open support of the American president for his opponent. When Trump and his acolytes interfere in the elections of other democracies, the electorate seems to know above all whom not to vote for. The American Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Rubio, who both travelled to Budapest to campaign for Viktor Orbán, fall flat on their faces.

The crushing victory of Péter Magyar the united Hungarian opposition is not only a historic defeat for Viktor Orbán; it is also a defeat for anti-EU populism, for Orbánism as the embodiment of so-called “illiberal democracy”, for the culture war that the Trump administration seeks to export from America to Europe, for the Putin regime that has unsuccessfully pulled out all the stops in electoral manipulation, and for all the dark forces conspiring to force Ukraine to yield to Russian aggression. Hungarian democracy, the freedom and security of Ukraine, and the moral strength of Europe and the European Union are the winners—not only in Europe but also internationally.

We may therefore feel pleased and relieved, but we must also remain cautious. Orbán has lost an election, but the Orbán state still needs to be dismantled — layers of infiltration, corruption, kleptocracy and politicisation across the media, the judiciary, institutions, universities, banks, major companies, and beyond. How resilient can the opposition bloc that has won the election prove in reinventing itself as a governing bloc? How influential will Orbán remain in opposition? Is this defeat a turning point in anti-EU populism, or merely a temporary interlude ahead of more significant elections in larger member states?

Magyar emerges from Orbán’s ranks and still has to prove himself as a European democrat on the right. Do not expect a new cheerleader for a European Ukraine – that was not his electoral platform. As Bill Clinton memorably said: “it’s the economy, stupid.” The European Commission already stands ready with a long list of conditions in exchange for funding. Hungary’s faltering economy must recover, while the influence of China and its energy dependence on Russia must be reduced.

The real question is: how on earth did it come to this? Are we going to continue passively tolerating foreign interference in European elections? Will we go on allowing hostile regimes to undermine us from within? Will we continue to accept that any single member state can block the core policy of the entire European Union? Must the European Union and its leading figures remain powerless spectators while they are cast as enemies in national elections? We must dare to admit it: Viktor Orbán and Hungary have acquired the status they have only because Europe has allowed it to happen.

Of course, the European Union, its institutions and procedures—are what they are. Europe is not a federal state, and national sovereignty carries weight. Changing the fundamental rules of the treaties is a political nightmare. Yet nothing prevents member states from moving forward together if they so choose, within the EU through enhanced cooperation or alongside it in complementary arrangements. The Hungarian veto only matters because there is no sufficient counterweight to transcend it through a deeper layer of European integration among a cluster of countries.

Why does no major member state truly commit to a truly common European defence? Why is there no coalition capable of establishing a robust Ukraine fund on the financial markets, backed by its own guarantees? Why do we not adopt a clear China strategy for all of Europe, instead of merely railing against Hungary? Why was Commission President Ursula von der Leyen unable to stand in any European election in 2024, while appearing as a bogeyman on campaign posters in Budapest in 2026?

In a sense, we are all a little like Orbán: the weight of nationalism, of short-term national interest, outweighing our collective national and European interest in the long term—that dynamic is everywhere. The European Union, created for globalisation and trade, must now conduct geopolitics and security for a continent. No member state signed up for that at the moment of its accession. If we do not make that choice explicit sooner or later, Europe will never emerge from the shadow of Orbán—whether in Hungary or elsewhere.