FLUSH with cash from the European Union and backed by a phalanx of ultra-loyalist MPs, Viktor Orban, Hungary’s prime minister, seems unstoppable. Brushing aside concerns about democracy, the European Commission last month signed a €21.9 billion ($ 28.2 billion) partnership agreement. The money will arrive between 2014 and 2020 to boost competitiveness and growth. Hungary will also get €3.45 billion for rural development and €39m for fisheries. GDP rose in the second quarter at an annual rate of 3.9%. Industrial output is up 11.3%. Tourism revenue has risen by more than 10% year-on-year.Next month’s local elections will consolidate Mr Orban’s grip on power. The once mighty left has splintered into three parties, none of which poses a serious challenge to his ruling right-wing Fidesz party. Instead, disillusioned Fidesz supporters are moving farther right. Polls show Jobbik, a nationalist party, neck-and-neck with the Socialists. Attila Juhasz at Political Capital, a think-tank, reckons that Jobbik could win up to 30 mayoralties in small towns and villages. The party might even take Miskolc, a big city in the east.Budapest highlights the opposition’s malaise. The…
The Economist: Europe
