Hungary

Budapest is currently sifting through the aftershocks of a non-violent autocracy, as one commentator puts it, and the bill is coming due. Authorities may seek up to 15.6 billion forints from associates of Viktor Orbán in a fraud probe. While the net closes at home, one key figure, Majer Bálint, has used his time under an international arrest warrant to give an Indonesian newspaper an interview about sunsets and beaches.

The Tisza Party under Péter Magyar is already looking toward the 2027 budget, as the government releases early details on pension increases for a year that still feels a long way off. Magyar’s party retains a dominant lead in the polls, though the far-right Mi Hazánk is also climbing. Even the government's economic officials, including 'Orbán's Scouts and Raiders', are reportedly beginning to align with the policies of the central bank governor, György Matolcsy.

The Parliament will spend Monday debating a sports conflict of interest law. It is a piece of legislation that seems specifically designed to force Fidesz party director Gabor Kubatov and Tamas Deutsch to choose between their political roles and their sports club presidencies. Elsewhere, the state is preparing to release secret police files from the dictatorship era, though officials warn the records are neither complete nor entirely truthful.