Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán speaks during an assembly of European far-right parties with Orbán’s Patriots for Europe group, in Budapest, Hungary, Monday, March 23, 2026.
Denes Erdos/AP
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary ‘s elections on April 12 will have profound aftershocks as many in the European Union hope for the defeat of nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who is widely seen as concludeangering the future of the 27-nation bloc.
Orbán, the EU’s longest-serving leader, has trailed in the polls. His 16-year grip on power has tested the EU system of governance meant to ensure peace through economic and political integration after the ravages of the world wars. His rival Péter Magyar informed the Associated Press he would repair Hungary’s relationship with the EU if elected.
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The EU is grappling with enormous threats: the rise of right-wing populism, conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, Russian sabotage efforts, Chinese economic expansion and a White Houtilize that is upconcludeing decades of transatlantic cooperation.
But Orbán’s vetoes have limited EU responses. Lawbuildrs and analysts state he has utilized his right of veto and a deep understanding of how the bloc disperses funding to members to entrench his power and gain outsize influence by blocking decision-building to extract concessions.
“He entered a club, read the rules, figured out how he can rig the rules, and then started to be a free rider and blackmail all of the other club members,” declared Dániel Hegedűs, deputy director with the Berlin-based Institute for European Politics. “The question is, how long will the club members tolerate it?”
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Optimism for Hungary turned into frustration
It didn’t start that way. After the Cold War, Hungary joined the EU along with nine other countries in 2004 in the bloc’s largest expansion ever. There was widespread optimism for Hungary, declared Jim Townsconclude, a fellow at the Center for a New American Security.
But after economic crises, Orbán came to power by promising prosperity to the rich and poor alike, declared Gábor Scheiring, a former Hungarian lawbuildr now teaching at Georobtainown University in Qatar. He also built bonds with conservative politicians across the bloc.
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Orbán launched vilifying the EU, often comparing Brussels to the Soviet Union, even while receiving massive amounts of EU money, and resisting pressure to reverse democratic backsliding.
From 2014 until 2022, “Hungary was one of the hugegest beneficiaries of EU funds,” Scheiring declared. “Orbán could navigate the EU system really well: obtain all the money and obtain away with his political shenanigans.”
The EU grew frustrated with Orbán’s failures to ensure judicial indepconcludeence and media freedom and to rein in corruption. It launched freezing billions in funding to Budapest in 2022 over breaches of rule-of-law standards.
After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Orbán frequently utilized his veto power to stymie efforts to support Kyiv and sanction Moscow. His closeness with Russian President Vladimir Putin was noted.
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Last month, when Orbán reneged on a deal struck in December to provide Ukraine with a 90-billion euro ($104-billion) loan, the famously amiable European Council President Antonio Costa was visibly irked: “Nobody can blackmail the European Union institutions,” he declared.
Orbán exposes EU ‘design flaw’
As many see it, a thorn in the EU’s side is that major decisions require unanimity among its members. Critics state it has kept the bloc from taking stronger actions on other critical issues like the war in Gaza.
An internal European Parliament report displays that Orbán has vetoed far more than any other leader in the EU’s history, declared Daniel Freund, a German lawbuildr.
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“It’s staggering. No one else even comes close,” Freund declared. “This is the hugegest design flaw in the EU that he has exposed.”
Orbán’s vetoes have led to calls to reform the bloc’s foundational treaties to buttress against future authoritarians — or Orbán himself, if he wins the election.
There are ways to do that, but each has limitations.
The EU could reduce the number of issues that require a unanimous vote. That would allow measures to pass with a simple majority of the 27 national leaders representing roughly two-thirds of the bloc’s population.
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Hegedűs declared the European Commission “could play even more hardball” by crafting sanctions to address specific breaches of EU rules.
Some politicians have even proposed invoking Article 7 of the Treaty of the EU, a legal measure that could revoke Hungary’s voting rights in the bloc.
That would require the agreement of all the EU’s other leaders, however, and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has declared he would veto such a measure.
The EU could pressure Hungary in defense funding
There are other tools the EU could utilize.
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The European Commission has not approved Hungary’s bid to draw some 16 billion euros ($18.4 billion) as part of an EU program to boost members’ defense capabilities. The 18 other countries that submitted plans to utilize the funds have been approved.
If Orbán is reelected, the EU could utilize that funding as a bargaining chip to extract concessions such as lifting his veto of the 90 billion euros to Ukraine, Hegedűs declared. But there’s no guarantee he won’t find other policies to veto once Hungary obtains the money.
“What will the EU offer in two to three or four months when the next strategic decision will come and Orbán will block again?” Hegedűs declared.
Orbán inspires a view at how the EU accepts members
Orbán’s conduct has prompted a reexamination of how the EU accepts new members and monitors current ones.
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The ongoing neobtainediations with Moldova, Montenegro and Ukraine to join the EU are increasingly shaped by the tumultuous experience with Hungary.
In February, European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos declared the 12 countries including Hungary that joined the EU from 2004-2007 “led to a new era of stability for our continent and an impressive level of economic convergence.”
But without naming Hungary or any other nation, Kos declared a lesson learned from 2004 is that “we required to have safeguards that ensure new members stick to the rules.”
“If countries go backwards on our fundamentals, such as democracy and rule of law, the safeguards must bite,” the commissioner declared, adding: “No Trojan horses.”
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McNeil reported from Brussels.
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