Fourteen years after Hungary's accession to the European Union - a significant and joyful event for the people who have got rid of the communist heritage - the country's emerging retreat from the common principles of freedom and democracy for the whole EU can not but cause concern and fear, especially for those states that ready to take an example from Hungary.

On April 8, Hungarians elected Victor Orban for the third time as their prime minister. Despite the record turnout (about 70% of voters came to polling stations this year), Orban and his right-wing Fidesz party managed to get 67% of the vote and get 133 of the 199 seats in the Hungarian parliament. Such a confident advantage allows this policy, which begins to look almost uncontested, to carry out constitutional changes of its own free will, without the support of the opposition, and by all available means to strengthen its power.

Orban, the author of the term "illiberal democracy" spent the last eight years in the prime minister's office, consistently and increasingly confidently pursuing an authoritarian-populist policy. He masterfully introduced a number of measures that enabled him to dismantle the constitutional democracy in Hungary: he restricted the rights of migrants, curtailed freedom of the press and finally changed the constitution of the country.

In 2011, Orban took advantage of the unconditional majority of votes cast by his party to reshape the electoral map of the country and obstruct any victory of the opposition in the future. Last year, one of the largest Hungarian newspapers was closed overnight. Subsequently, it was resold to the pro-Orban company, and this is just one of the examples of "Cum capitalism" created in Hungary. In 2015, at the peak of the migrant crisis that swept Europe, Orban's government erected a wall on the southern border to prevent refugees from entering the country and "to preserve ethnic cleanness".

Although Hungary boasts that it hosted the least number of migrants from the 28 EU member states, however, the entire electoral campaign of Orban was focused on this topic. He skillfully played on the fears and xenophobia of the public, who accepted his ideas with delight.

Two days before the election, speaking in Szekesfehervar (a city in the north-west of Hungary), at a rally that ended the election campaign, Orban stated: "The security of the state is at stake, therefore we must protect our borders ... migration is rust that is slow, but it will surely corrode the country. It will ruin our economy ... become a physical threat ... then penetrate into our culture ".

For several months throughout the country, propaganda posters of "Fides" "stop" were hung up against the background of migrants trying to cross the border. George Soros, a Jewish financier and philanthropist, a native of Hungary, founder of the Open Society Foundation and a supporter of open European borders, was insulted during the campaign of Orban, who claimed that his ideas were contrary to Christian and primordially Hungarian values.

To strike at the financial interests of Soros, the government of Orban passed a law obliging all public organizations to disclose data on funding received from abroad. On April 9, the day after the elections, the government announced the adoption of another law, on the basis of which it will be possible to close out public organizations that act in defense of migrants.

There is nothing new in Orban's rhetoric. In recent years, throughout the world, we can observe the triumph of populism - from Breckzit and from the victory of Donald Trump to the results of the recent elections in the Czech Republic. All these are signs of a global shift in geopolitical dynamics.

There is only one moment of real interest - this is how, slowly but steadily Orban from a liberal dissident turned into an extreme right-wing autocrat. Many are genuinely surprised by the fact that Orban, who rightly can now be called one of Vladimir Putin's younger brothers, was once considered almost an icon of the Western model of democracy.

Having created his Alliance of Young Democrats in 1988 (the very one that will later become the basis of the political party "Fidesz") Orban in 1998 came to power. He was elected prime minister and led the conservative coalition. And only by 2010, when he returned to this post after two consecutive defeats, Orban began to manifest himself as an anti-liberal. Like many other populists, he recruited supporters, promising to heal the economy from the consequences of the 2008 global crisis.

We will move to 2018: despite the record high turnout and some previous failures of Fidesz (for example, the devastating defeat of the mayor's election in the city of Hodmezevarsharhei), inspiring hope for a different outcome, Orban was elected by an overwhelming majority of votes and for the third consecutive time became prime minister.

In the morning of April 9, more than half of the country's population felt deceived, but the lack of unity in the ranks of the opposition and all the measures that Orban took over eight years to consolidate its power paved the Fidesz party to victory. The fragmented opposition, consisting of 39 parties, will have to learn in the next four years to work in concert and stand for each other if they seriously want to fight the Union of Young Democrats.

The victory of Orban is important for several reasons.

For Hungary, it heralds another four years of life under authoritarianism, which the farther away, the less it reminds democracy - at one time creating conditions for the country's accession to the EU and to NATO.

For Brussels and Washington this is a real threat. The Orban regime, which the United States and the European Union failed to assess on time and adequately, is now capable of questioning their position as world leaders promoting democratic values.

In the field of global geopolitics, we can talk about another victory of populism.

Recent events clearly demonstrate that this trend does not even think of going into recession.

As for the Western democracies, for them everything that happens must be an incentive for joint actions to protect and uphold democratic values ??- those same that once united these states and brought them peace, freedom and prosperity.

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