Orbán’s Fidesz Loses Parliamentary Majority After 10 Years as Hungary’s 2025 GDP Growth Slows to 0.4%
Updated
Updated · Commentary Magazine · May 15
Orbán’s Fidesz Loses Parliamentary Majority After 10 Years as Hungary’s 2025 GDP Growth Slows to 0.4%
6 articles · Updated · Commentary Magazine · May 15
Hungary voted Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz out of power in April 2026, ending the party’s parliamentary majority for the first time in more than a decade.
0.4% GDP growth in 2025, heavy sector taxes, pension nationalization, price caps and weak battery and EV investments helped drive the loss, alongside pervasive corruption.
Orbán’s government had also relied heavily on EU support—funds equal to as much as 4% of Hungary’s economy, according to the report.
The report argues Hungary’s experience mirrors earlier authoritarian, postliberal regimes in Portugal and Spain, where economic controls, repression and church-state fusion ultimately weakened both prosperity and religious life.
Hungary’s own social indicators undercut that model: 57% reported no faith affiliation in the latest census, Catholic membership fell by 1.1 million since 2011, and the birth rate stood at 1.41.
If fusing church and state weakens faith, as seen in Spain, what is the future for movements blending religion with national identity?
Is Hungary's failed 'postliberal' experiment a warning, or could this model of governance succeed elsewhere with different leadership?
With a supermajority, can Hungary's new leaders restore democracy without repeating the power consolidation tactics they campaigned against?