A cold early April wind blew over Budapest as Hungary’s illiberal leader stepped on stage for an election victory speech. Having secured his fourth successive landslide, Viktor Orbán was jubilant as he addressed a small crowd of party faithful outside the Whale, a swanky fish-shaped convention centre by the Danube.
“We sure are in good shape,” he said to laughter and applause. “We won so big you can see it from the Moon.”
Nearby, a group of bankers with close links to the prime minister’s elite circle was similarly relieved. Orbán, Europe’s longest-serving government leader, for years had backed their effort to merge three of the country’s largest banks into a single institution, hoping it would serve his political goals as much as customers. His victory meant the Hungarian Bankholding project would definitely go forward.