Hungary shows how government should be done By
Gavin Duncan
January 14, 2026
The writer is in Hungary
SINCE 2010, as far as the vast majority of the Western world (or their media at least) is concerned, Hungary has been superglued to the cutty-stool.
Of late, following the re-election of Donald Trump, some in the Western world (although the media apparently didn’t get the email) have recognised that a lot of what was and continues to be said about Hungary is nonsense.
Here in Hungary we’re no longer holding our breaths, waiting for some sort of mea culpa. We’re happy enough for the ire of the US to have been directed elsewhere. Now that Joe Biden’s been locked away in an institution for the perennially bewildered, one knock-on effect has been the absence of cutting barbs from the likes of George Clooney. Phew!
As far as the woefully inept leaders of the EU are concerned, however, Hungary is beyond the pale.
From Hungary it seems that despite endless protestations, the EU is desperate for Hungary to refuse to toe the line; that way the EU can rant and rave and point the finger, distracting from the litany of mistakes and unlawful acts that conspicuously bear their fingerprints.
Thankfully, the plans (of questionable legality) to turn the EU into a modern-day empire are still nowhere near completion. As a result, it’s possible that Hungary will do what needs to be done, and organise the reconquering of the EU by the nation states so that it once again resembles its intended form: a mediator helping member states to buy and sell more efficiently from each other.
Viktor Orbán returned as Hungarian prime minister in 2010 at the head of a government with a two-thirds majority in parliament. This majority, repeated three times, serves to highlight a point often overlooked or considered with disdain by Western media: that it is both possible and desirable to create concord in a nation.
The fact that national concord has long since evaporated in the West is likely a result of the inverted triangle of power which has become embedded in Western society.
As Western media and disapproving governments cast derision on Hungarian democratic credentials, we point to the fact that in the past 15 years the government has organised 15 ‘national consultations’ (in essence, referenda) on the most burning questions of the day.
It’s only in the twisted view of the West that Hungary, with a penchant for asking the populace their opinion, can be considered to be somehow deficient in terms of democracy. The deficiency, however, is located in the West. It is there that successive governments have decided to exclude the electorate from the equation.
The overwhelming impression in Western politics is that the government – being so much cleverer than the electorate – should be allowed to make all the important decisions without the interference of the populace. This, of course, was suggested by Bertolt Brecht in 1953 when he asked if it wouldn’t be easier for the East German Communists to dissolve the people and elect another. Odd that this tactic should have gained so much traction in the West.
The politics of the West has lost its way. The representatives who sit in parliament represent themselves for the most part, convinced that their superior intelligence and better grasp of the modern world means that they should act then explain to the voters, rather than ask the voters and act accordingly. A habit which began decades ago now ensures that an ever-wider gap exists between electorate and parliament.
In Britain, following Enoch Powell’s comments regarding immigration in 1968, the topic was rendered radioactive. The shadow of racism rises to confront anyone who broaches the subject. Public discussion has been done away with, and governing parties have driven a wedge between themselves and those they are meant to represent.
Modern Hungarian national concord was partially created by the disastrous Socialist governments which preceded the Fidesz win in 2010. The Socialists saw out their term, but had no chance in 2010 because people remembered how they had been hoodwinked in the previous elections.
The incumbent Hungarian government’s majority accurately reflected the public’s dismay with the Socialists who over two consecutive terms had enriched themselves at the expense of the country. Everything that wasn’t nailed down was sold off. Even essential services like water and energy supply were sold to foreign companies which predictably led to outrageous price rises in Hungary as prices dropped in the homelands of those foreign companies.
Orbán’s government started as it said it would: it bailed out those who were drowning in debt, repaid the EU for the grants stolen for the construction of the Metro 4 line, repaid the IMF whom the Socialists invited in, and sent them packing. In essence, the incumbent government governed. As it still does.
Again, this throws up a contrast to Western governments which set out to achieve marvellous undertakings, but which always seem to fail.
The list of broken promises in Western government is never-ending. The Hungarian government is accused of failure, but those accusations ring hollow. Those who view modern Hungary clearly can see that the Hungarian government has not forgotten that they are the servants of the nation. The government exists to represent the wishes of the population. That idea appears to receive lip-service, at best, in countries located further west.
Hungary has always had to walk a tricky tightrope located as it is at the meeting point of the Russian, Turkish and German empires. Nothing has changed. Hungary continues to perform on the high wire. And the Hungarian population recognise this.
The defining difference between Hungary and the West today is that the population are aware that the government asks and then acts. In the West, as we can see, the reverse is true.