‘Feels like history is being made’: will young Hungarian voters oust Orbán?

The rightwing populist has been in power for 16 years but a new generation of voters are preparing to vote for his opponent, polls suggest Hungary elections: what is at stake and who is likely to win? As he rushed to finish off his cigarette before heading to class, Ákos, 20, confessed that he has more at stake than most as Hungarians prepare to head to the polls in the coming days. “If things remain the same, or get even worse, I can’t see a future here,” said the aspiring teacher. “There are many people who want to try living elsewhere, and that’s totally fine, but I’m not one of them. For so long I’ve dreamed of working and teaching here.” Ákos was four years old when Hungarians voted in Viktor Orbán as prime minister in 2010, setting in motion a 16-year grip on power that has sought to transform the central European country into an “illiberal democracy” – and which has defined much of this student’s early life. Ákos is a member of Generation Orbán – the young Hungarians who came of age as the country plunged in press freedom rankings, was accused of being an “electoral autocracy”, and became the most corrupt country in the EU. Now, it is these