Hungary is mediocre under Orban. Freedoms and civilian liberties are limited

Under Viktor Orban, Hungary has become a country where citizens have the least freedom and freedom from all the countries of the European Union. At the same time, the economical situation of Hungary deteriorated importantly and their income became comparable to Romanian. And Romania is simply a country that in Budapest has always been considered mediocre and underdeveloped.

In fresh years Viktor Orban has been trying to make a “savior of Europe” whose policy would defend the European Union from moving distant from “traditional values” and “the murderousism of Brussels”. But the reality turned out to be completely opposite:

• The per capita income in Hungary, taking into account the real purchasing power of national currencies (as estimated by the IMF), is only $48.6 thousand, little than in Romania (49.2,000).
• Public debt is already about 75% of GDP, and 5% of GDP is allocated to its service (Hungarian bond profitability is around 7% – the country has very low confidence).
• In fresh years Hungary has besides faced the highest inflation in the Union. At the highest of respective months ago prices increased annually at 25 percent.

Orban, under the pretext of "politics on the 4 sides of the world", strengthened cooperation with Russia and China. However, this did not bring tangible benefits:

• Hungary, alongside Slovakia, is most dependent on Russian natural materials in the EU. This did not entail a fall in energy prices, but at the same time the state did not make alternate supplies and has very limited energy sovereignty.
• The improvement was to ensure, among others, that Chinese investments, e.g. electrical battery factories, were brought to Debreczyn. However, the interest in European companies has been limited. Many years of delays has besides another task – rail connections from Budapest via Belgrade to Pireus (it was expected to facilitate Chinese imports into Europe). The thought of forcing the city to quit crucial areas for the establishment of a branch of Shanghai University was besides met with large concerns in Budapest. The convergence with China is presently mainly due to the request to borrow large loans for Hungary, and the return on investment is highly doubtful.

In addition, many companies located in Hungary have started crucial reductions in employment. This concerns mainly production and industry:

• Samsung SDI battery mill in Göd reduced the crew by over 700 people.
• In 4 Hungarian companies, Robert Bosch reduced employment by a full of over 600 people.
• Jabil Circuit in Tiszaújváros fired more than 500 people, likewise Flextronics in Zalaegerszeg and Aumovio in Veszprém.
• Exemptions are besides in the Continental tyre mill in Makó.
• This is all related, among others, to the fact that the volume of industrial production, e.g. in August 2025, was 7.3 percent lower than in the same period of the erstwhile year. The latest statistic say that Hungarian GDP increased by 0.6% y/y in the 3rd quarter. By comparison, Poland's GDP increased by 3.8% during this period.

At the same time, the least Hungarians in the European Union can enjoy civilian liberties and freedoms:

• Almost all crucial media stay under the control of the ruling or associated businessmen.
• Corruption is among the largest in the Union. For example, from the assets of the Hungarian National Bank, in unexplained circumstances in 2025 the equivalent of around EUR 1.25 billion was taken out. Traces indicate that the money was utilized to carry out dubious transactions concerning property and shares. A large proportion of them are reportedly lost as a consequence of a failure of value and a fall in share prices.
• At the same time, the boy of the head of the central bank until March 2025 has luxury cars, watches and apartments in Budapest and Dubai, and travels the planet by private aircraft.
• The fact that in Hungary there is in fact no important, ideologically independent and financially independent media power makes the flow of information on specified scandals much more hard and that the public does not learn much about the details. The government controls the flow of information and does not supply a real image of the political and economical situation. At the same time, it creates imaginary threats (most frequently from the West) from which it is expected to defend society.

Parliamentary elections in Hungary are planned in the spring of 2026.

Photo by Bernadette Szabo / Reuters / Forum