It is undoubtedly too early to declare victory, but the recent electoral defeats of Viktor Orbán, Aleksandar Vučić and Flávio Bolsonaro make me wonder: is 2026 turning out to be the year democracy slowly, but surely, fought back?

Even in Israel, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reigning bloc lost its parliamentary majority and saw the spectacular rise of Arab parties. Though the opposition may not be able to form a government yet, it does have the larger parliamentary bloc.

The shift began with an astonishing election result in Hungary in April. Against all odds, Orbán, the EU’s most deeply entrenched autocrat, was unseated by challenger Péter Magyar. Over his long years in office, Orbán had done everything possible to consolidate and perpetuate his authoritarian grip on power. The media were in his pocket, the judiciary ate from his hand and academic freedom was systematically curtailed. Yet a broad civic movement coalesced around Magyar’s party and succeeded in ousting him. The banks of the Danube witnessed their most exuberant night of celebration this century.

Joy was equally palpable last Sunday night, 300km down the river in Belgrade. There in Serbia, the Student List, a bottom-up alliance of students, academics and angry citizens, unexpectedly sent Vučić packing. Vučić had held a tight grip on power since 2014, first as prime minister, then president, relying on a familiar cocktail of far-right bravado, financial scandals and contempt for the rule of law: the winning formula of recent years. But there seems to be a limit to what citizens are ready to accept. Vučić’s fate was sealed after the newly constructed roof canopy of the Novi Sad train station collapsed in 2024, killing 16 people and triggering........

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