On 3 April, Hungary will hold its highly anticipated parliamentary elections as well as a national referendum on “child-protection measures” which is widely seen as being used to promote the government’s anti-LGBTQ+ narrative. The elections are being held while Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues across the border and an influx of refugees flee to Hungary. For the first time, the previously fractured opposition has come together and is running behind one candidate, meaning that it will be a tight race between the ruling party and the opposition. EPDE research indicates that the government may employ friendly European politicians on Election Day to provide a positive assessment of E-Day procedures to shift attention away from what several experts have deemed systemic manipulations ahead of the elections. Panelists discussed all of these issues as well as the conduct of the electoral campaign, controversial amendments to the electoral legislation, and the role of civil society and the media in the pre-election period.

Speakers included:

• Opening remark: Daniel Freund – Member of the European Parliament, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
• Daniel Hegedüs – Visiting fellow for Central Europe at the German Marshall Fund of the United States
• Tamás Bodoky – investigative journalist and editor of Átlátszó, a watchdog NGO and online newspaper for investigative journalism in Hungary
• Zsofia Banuta – Co-founder of Unhack Democracy, an election watchdog founded after the 2018 parliamentary elections in Hungary
• Anton Shekhovtsov – Director of the Centre for Democratic Integrity
• Moderator: Zsuzsanna Végh – Researcher at European University Viadrina & Associate Researcher at European Council on Foreign Relations

You can watch the full recording of the livestream below.