What Orbán’s fall from power means for research around the world

The electoral defeat of Viktor Orbán after sixteen years in power is being welcomed by scientists in Hungary — and elsewhere. Researchers who watched Orbán dismantle academic freedoms, strip university autonomy, and saw Hungary blocked from EU funding now cautiously hope that his successor, Péter Magyar, will repair the damage.

Some are watching for ripple effects outside Europe too: Orbán’s systematic erosion of university independence became a model for the changes to research now underway in the United States. And Hungary was increasingly seen as a hub for Chinese influence in Europe under Orbán, with plans to host the first Chinese university campus in the EU.

Magyar’s Tisza party won a two-thirds majority in Sunday’s parliamentary election — sufficient to amend Hungary’s constitution and undo many of Orbán’s structural changes. But how far that mandate will extend into the university and research sectors remains to be seen, and researchers warn that simply restoring the old system may not be enough to repair the Hungarian university sector.

“What will happen to Hungarian science now is still very uncertain and unpredictable, but at least we have some hope that the future will bring some change,” says Imola Wilhelm, a neuroscientist at the Biological Research Centre in Szeged, Hungary. “What we really need is stability and transparency. In the last few years, the scientific environment has been so turbulent here.”

Restoring trust

Under Orbán’s Fidesz party, Hungary’s scientific system was reshaped. The reorganization of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences reduced the autonomy of its research network, while many universities were transferred into foundations governed by boards whose members were often politically appointed by Fidesz. In response, the Council of the European Union, a group of government ministers from each of the bloc’s 27 member states, agreed in 2022 to freeze around €6.3 billion (US$7 billion) funding for research and exchange programmes for higher-education and cultural institutions in Hungary, including at 21 universities.

In his victory speech, Magyar pledged his party “will do everything to restore the rule of law, plural democracy, and the system of checks and balances”.

Science is unlikely to be the government’s immediate priority compared with sectors such as healthcare and education, says Balázs Lengyel, an economic geographer at the Corvinus University of Budapest. But some changes won’t require new policies. Orbán’s stance on academic freedom led to many of his colleagues and collaborators refusing to travel to Hungary on principle. “I expect that this will change,” Lengyel says.

Magyar’s pledge to restore relations with the European Union, along with restoring institutional autonomy, should at least enable Hungarian universities and research centres to rejoin European projects, says Kurt Deketelaere, Secretary-General of the League of European Research Universities. “We can also expect the PM and his government to be supportive and protective of academic freedom, unlike his predecessor,” he says. “There is a great opportunity for Hungary now to support EU research and innovation policy.”

“I expect participation in European research to become easier, but it’s too early to say when,” says Lengyel. “We want to be full members of the European research area again. It’s not just the lack of money. It’s a loss of social capital and trust.”

Deketelaere adds that he hopes the Hungarian election result can inspire other countries that have experienced similar challenges. “There is still hope … at the end of the day democracy and academic freedom will prevail”.