This publication is a comprehensive overview of developments, events and trends in Hungary in 2016. It focuses on five broad areas. In the first section we review the year from the perspective of the Hungarian government, with a special emphasis on what role the migration issue has played in the politics of Viktor Orbán in 2016. In the second section we look at the opposition parties, their state and prospects. The third section focuses on foreign affairs, in particular Orbán’s vision about Europe, his government's relations with key European partners, and his international position following the US elections. In the fourth section, we take a detailed look at how Fidesz's policies have shaped the economy. Finally, some key aspects of the Hungarian society – media landscape, anti-government protests, corruption and its perception – are discussed. All of the sections conclude with a brief analysis of the issues which may come to the fore in 2017.
Editor: András Bíró-Nagy
Main author: Gábor Győri
Contributing authors: András Bíró-Nagy, Zoltán Pogátsa
Policy Solutions is a progressive political research institute based in Budapest. It was founded in 2008 and it is committed to the values of liberal democracy, solidarity, equal opportunity, sustainability and European integration. The focus of Policy Solutions’ work is on understanding political processes in Hungary and the European Union. Among the pre-eminent areas of our research are the investigation of how the quality of democracy evolves, the analysis of factors driving euroscepticism, populism and the far-right, and election research.
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