THERE has understandably been widespread rejoicing over the comeuppance of Viktor Orbán in last Sunday’s Hungarian elections. For the past 16 years, he has served as something of a role model for fascist-adjacent political forces across Europe and far beyond.

Amid indications that his far-right Fidesz party might be ousted after four terms of parliamentary supermajorities that enabled its leader to pursue his reprehensible agenda, ideological allies from across the continent and even Latin America descen­ded on Budapest to bolster their beleaguered idol’s chances for a fifth term. They were followed by Donald Trump’s emissaries Marco Rubio and J.D. Vance. Benjamin Netanyahu has hitherto found a warm welcome in Budapest, and Hungary has stood out among EU states as an unabashed member of the Vladimir Putin fan club.

It’s unclear whether any of the interventions had much effect, salutary or otherwise, on Orbán’s prospects. As the opinion polls suggested, Hungarian voters seemed determined to deliver their leader his marching orders. The conduit, somewhat ironically, was Péter Magyar, an Orbán loyalist until two years ago who fled Fidesz during a scandal over presidential protection for a serial child abuser. There are shades here of the........

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