Hungary: A Post-Election Analysis

Please join the Harriman Institute, the East Central European Center, and the European Institute for a talk with Kristóf Szombati, Istvan Deak Visiting Professor of Political Science at the Harriman Institute. Professor Andrew Arato, Dorothy Hart Hirshon Professor in Political and Social Theory at the New School for Social Research, will serve as discussant.

On the day after the Hungarian parliamentary elections, we will discuss what the election results mean for Hungary and the region more broadly, which has been marked by the success of right-wing parties in recent years. Kristof Szombati, Istvan Deak Visiting Professor of Political Science from Hungary at the Harriman Institute, will provide an analysis of the results, followed by a discussion. What is the way forward in Hungary? What do the results mean for the liberal/left? How should fellow European countries as well as the US best respond? Please join us for a lively discussion.

Kristóf Szombati has a background in both politics and academia. He is a co-founder of the green LMP party of Hungary and was an elected member of its Steering Committee. He left the party in 2010 to coordinate the activities of the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Budapest, before pursuing a PhD at Central European University (CEU). He completed the latter in 2016 and received CEU’s Best Dissertation award for his work. His book, The Revolt of the Provinces: Anti-Gypsyism and Right-Wing Politics in Hungary, will be published by Berghahn Books in June 2018.