Remember this? The Brexit Trilemma

About the myth of “unnecessary regulation”: regulation is about the things we value: health, safety, privacy, consumer & workers rights, fair competition, public services. It is also about harmonisation, i.e. creating a level playing field, benefiting companies. We should cherish it, not attack it

Brexit referendum was ten years ago today.. I wrote this a couple days later. The predictions have held up well- though Brexit did less damage to EU than I suspected and was even worse for UK economy than I imagined. www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/uni...

Worrying www.thenation.com/article/poli...

The second #EUMoldova summit will take place tomorrow in Brussels. The summit, which comes one week after the opening of the first cluster for accession negotiations, will be key to highlighting the strategic importance of 🇲🇩's future within the 🇪🇺. → link.europa.eu/KKjFR6

Covering marble with linoleum flooring is some classic slumlord shit.

Kelemen @rdanielkelemen.bsky.social & Ziblatt: "How to Beat an Autocrat" "The first lesson from Hungary is a simple one: center-right parties are a crucial hinge of democracy. When the establishment center-right tolerates the authoritarians on its flank, it facilitates their rise." 1/7

Today's Briefing: Joshua Landis @joshua-landis.bsky.social | R. Daniel Kelemen @rdanielkelemen.bsky.social | Shawna Kidman soundcloud.com/user-8304426...

📣 NEW PAPER My paper reviewing how Fidesz reshaped Hungary’s foreign policy—and, consequently, what the new Tisza government is now faced with—has been published by @carnegieendowment.org. 📖 Read the paper here: carnegieendowment.org/research/202... See the key takeaways below ⤵️

Really feels like Trump bombed the shit out of a country and then surrendered

Who knows if there will be a final agreement. But if there is, two things will be true at the same time: a) It's essentially surrender to Iran. b) We should be glad about it, because every day this insane, illegal war continues, we get weaker. 1/ Let me explain.

“Although it is exceedingly difficult for the democratic opposition to dislodge the leader of an electoral autocracy, Hungary is a reminder that it is not impossible,” write @rdanielkelemen.bsky.social and @dziblatt.bsky.social.

Important message from @rdanielkelemen.bsky.social & @dziblatt.bsky.social

"How to Beat an Autocrat: The Real Lessons of Orban’s Defeat" By R. Daniel Kelemen and Daniel Ziblatt @foreignaffairs.com @rdanielkelemen.bsky.social @dziblatt.bsky.social www.foreignaffairs.com/guest-pass/r...

@dziblatt.bsky.social and I in @foreignaffairs.com on the real lessons from Hungary www.foreignaffairs.com/hungary/how-...

[video] International conference "analyses of illiberal regimes. deciphering democratic deconsolidation" @rdanielkelemen.bsky.social "Europe in the Upside Down: The Parasitic Architecture of Democratic Backsliding in the EU" youtu.be/B-DMGtXrHew?...

Trump is now sitting back in his chair and dozing off

This is a real test for the EU

Due to present myself tomorrow on “restoring the rule of law post backsliding” using EU/ECHR law. Conference programme available here: facdedroit.univ-lyon3.fr/colloque-int...

In Lyon to attend professor @rdanielkelemen.bsky.social’s (brilliant) keynote on Stranger Things and EU (Rule of) Law

Peter Magyar showing off brand new paper shredders in the Carmelite Monastery (formely Viktor Orbans seat) "Look what we have here! A brand new paper shredder. Comrades, what is this? You said theres no destruction of documents here. We're not gonna take it out now, its empty"

Zbigniew Ziobro was one of the authors of the attempt to transform Poland into an authoritarian regime. Ziobro is a wanted man with no passport. The Trump White House just went to a good deal of trouble to bring him to the US. snyder.substack.com/p/copycat-ty...

But he can make time for the important stuff, like golfing.

The New York Times editorial board: “Americans should be cleareyed about what the president is doing. He is taking their money and showering it on criminals.”

Great to chat Brexit options on @skynewsrss.bsky.social this morning

Magyar replacing Orbán on Europe day is quite something

I expect he’ll be on Republican speaking circuit - trying to rake in more cash. Maybe hanging out at Mar a Lago too

BREAKING: Viktor Orbán quits Hungary's parliament after 36 years – confirming my earlier scoop that he's planning a longer US trip this summer, where heads of the Orbán business empire – his daughter and son-in-law – already live, and where he could possibly seek refuge from prosecution.

Exclusive: It could take six months to fully clear the Strait of Hormuz of mines deployed by the Iranian military, the Pentagon has informed Congress. The timeline is perhaps the clearest sign that gas prices could stay high through the midterms.

"Magyar’s remarks at his first press conference as Prime Minister-elect were delivered in front of a wall of Hungarian flags bracketed at each end by that of the EU." Alexander Faludy anlayses Péter Magyar‘s landslide victory in the Hungarian parliamentary elections. ukandeu.ac.uk/how-hungarys...

🇪🇺🏳️‍🌈⚖️🇭🇺 A legal earthquake - CJEU finds Hungary to have violated EU law on multiple counts with its anti-LGBT+ legislation (as expected) but also for the first time in history, in an EU law-reshaping precedent, finds Hungary to violate Art 2 TEU in a self-standing manner.

1/ All the hallmarks of a neo-royalist lollapalooze. Syrian billionaire, ties to Kushner, sanctions relief, preferential contracts. This is not the rules based order or spheres of influence. Global politics is being run by court insiders. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/19/u...

NYT INVESTIGATION: As the Trump administration & Congress last year moved to repeal sanctions on Syria, the Qatar-based family that most stood to benefit was privately negotiating a real-estate partnership with Jared Kushner and proposing a Trump golf course in Syria www.nytimes.com/2026/04/19/u...

Have been wondering when candidates would start talking about this. One of the biggest corruption scandals is U.S. history playing out in real time.

Pleasure to join Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Jim Townsend, & @rosabalfour.bsky.social on @cnas.bsky.social Brussels Sprouts podcast to discuss the Hungarian election and its impact on European politics www.cnas.org/publications...

Politico went looking for who picks up Orbán's chief disruptor crown — and found Fico already holding it, Radev calling Ukraine "doomed," Meloni confessing sympathy for Orbán to EU leaders, and Babiš demanding the same loan carveout. 🔗 euromaidanpress.com/2026/04/15/p...

Orbán will be gone, but will the Kremlin soon have a new Trojan Horse in Brussels?

Donald Trump has become so politically toxic in Europe that even his closest ideological allies increasingly view him as a liability. 🔗 www.politico.eu/article/trum...

My take on the Hungarian election in @lawfaremedia.org www.lawfaremedia.org/article/how-...

Apart from this, Magyar also thrashed the public broadcaster in a radio and a TV interview, recounting the lies they broadcasted and adding that "the factory of lies" would be closed, and waved at Orbán, reading on the terrace of his office, from the terrace of the office of the Head of State.

👋 More and more Fidesz insiders are jumping from the sinking ship. Suddenly they blame each other, the circumstances, the party leadership, even Viktor Orbán himself. And of course they all claim they “saw it coming” long ago. 🧵

Peter Magyar displaying a ruthlessness that Biden and Starmer seem devoid of

I was thinking this morning how both Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan would have been delighted to see a Westward-looking, centre-right party defeat a pro-Russian autocrat in a former Eastern Bloc country.

On a more serious note, this does show the necessity of a big-tent single-issue pro-democracy coalition. Autocrats lose when anti-authoritarianism is the opposition-uniting priority, and win when they can play divide and conquer on lesser issues.

Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán misread his electorate by bashing the EU and Ukraine. His crushing loss yesterday showed voters cared more about cronyism and economic mismanagement. 🔗 www.politico.eu/article/orba...

Hungarians celebrated the landslide defeat of Orban by singing "We Are the Champions" out in the streets

Orban's system was rigged to give plurality winners with widespread support in the countryside super-majorities in the parliament - so Peter Magyar generated widespread support in the countryside and has been rewarded with 69% of the parliamentary seats. Now he can undo Orban's constitution!

Perhaps now is a good time to share the @financialtimes.com investigative series on Viktor Orban. To start with here’s the one we sent a reporter up in a plane for … (300 free clicks) as.ft.com/r/8cd54659-d...

Magyar says he’s starting work with the EU and NATO immediately. “The EU doesn’t have to worry anymore.”

Magyar: “No mercy, they will need to take responsibility for all their actions.”