Hungary has had a difficult relationship with the EU, moving from an enthusiastic top-candidate after the establishment of liberal democracy to a Eurosceptic maverick under Viktor Orbán's governments since 2010. Political economy and polarisation have been key issues here. How did the transformation take place in Hungary? How can the EU address this diversity and the limits of integration? Join us on 11 September at 16-18 in the Karolina Eskelin room (U3032) of the University of Helsinki Main Building for a keynote from László Andor with comments from Emilia Palonen; Heikki Patomäki will chair this event.
The Hungarian detour: European ambition and the limits to intra-EU diversity
László Andor, former Hungarian EU Commissioner (Barroso II) and the Secretary General of the Foundation of European Progressive Studies (FEPS).
In the past decade and a half, Hungary has been an outlier within the EU in more and more fields. The state of democracy and rule of law has been under scrutiny, which aggravated disputes over budgetary questions as well. Finally, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has been a maverick on European policy towards Russia and Ukraine. This detour since 2010 appears to be in sharp contrast with the earlier profile of Hungary as a champion of democratic transition and economic reforms. The lecture offers insights into the historic origins of divergent policies and pathways, but also some reflections about intra-EU diversity, which sets limits to deep integration and to some extent to the overall European ambition as well.
The talk is co-organised by the Helsinki Global Political Economy (GPE) Centre and the Continuous Construction of the Resilient Social Contract (CO3) Horizon Europe project, which has also been studying the social contract in Hungary. The discussant is Associate Professor Emilia Palonen, PI of the CO3. Palonen's book exploring Hungarian democratisation, political polarisation, as well as the failure of the left before Fidesz's takeover since 2010, The Birth and Death of Liberal Democracy in Hungary: The Populist Logic of Polarisation as Hegemony has been newly published in open access by the Helsinki University Press in 2025.
This event is co-funded by the European Commission. Any views presented here are the views of the speakers and do not represent the views of the European Commission.
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