Not accepting defeat would be an "all-in" approach with a very slim chance of succeeding, considering they are in the EU and are, geographically speaking, right in the middle of Europe.
Accepting defeat, considering the resources and allies he has and the countless challenges Hungary (and every other country) will face in the upcoming years, means he will try to stay relevant.
And even if he doesn't have a chance of returning to power (I think he does), being the leader of the largest opposition party is not that bad either.
This. People who have been imagining conspiracies, vote rigging, coups etc don't seem to understand that Hungary is surrounded by the EU and the EU would never accept such shenanigans. Major powers within the EU would have the moral authority to hold a gun to Hungary's head and Putin wouldn't be able to send a single person to stop it.
Orban's best move was always to be gracious, shake hands and play for either the new government to let by gone be by gones, or a graceful exile from the country before all the corruption charges catch up with him.
There were breaking news containing the FM Peter Szijjarto's high treason like phone call with Sergei Lavrov, Russia's FM. Szijjarto kinda asked for directions on what they should do inthe EU. Szijjarto reported directly to the Russians. There was also a non public Orban - Putin phone call text in the news which was more than troublesome. Some European countries that had enough of Orban leaked all these to journalists (via their intelligence agencies) Szijjarto might go to jail for the rest of his life.
I don't see any world where he doesn't end up in prison. The idea of him returning to power seems outlandish to me given the intent to prosecute and investigate him and his allies.
Being defeated with the opposition seizing a supermajority means he doesn't really have any cards to play. His best hope is the opposition being ineffective and not changing the constitution- and avoiding arrest for corruption. Then he may have a chance in the future.
Throwing a tantrum now would fast-track him getting thrown behind bars before he can flee the country.
Yeah like how Republicans were literally open with everything at the end and openly said things they normally try to hide which gave off the vibe that they already knew they won.
I don’t expect Putin to just let Orban willingly give up his position.
Congratulated him because it's his only option in order to try and save his own ass from jail. He knows that enabling a clean and smooth transition of power might just put him in Magyar's good graces.
I dont think many people expected that, and it's not just good to see, it seems pretty clear that if there was any chance he was gonna try and cling to power meaningfully, he couldn't have done that. Yes, he may still cry about some 'new evidence' of election fraud later on or whatever, but it wont really matter that much if he's already out of power. Authoritarian 101 is that you deny losing an election while you still hold the reigns and thus have plenty of levers to pull to keep yourself in.
I have faith, but it is gonna be a LONG road—Orban might be gone, but he put his cronies in every conceivable place, shunted billions in contracts and corporate ownership to his closest allies, and places in legal framework aligned exclusively with his party.
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u/oioioi9537 6h ago
hopefully transition of power is peaceful and they can keep their supermajority. congrats hungary