Daniel Hegedüs
Regional Director, Transatlantic Trusts Central EuropeDaniel Hegedüs is a GMF regional director, Transatlantic Trusts Central Europe focused on Central Europe. He writes and speaks extensively on populism and democratic backsliding in Central and Eastern Europe, and the European and foreign affairs of the Visegrad countries. He is frequently quoted in outlets such as AFP, the Financial Times, the New York Times, Euractiv, EU Observer and Der Spiegel. He has studied political science, history, and European law at the Eötvös Loránd University Budapest and Humboldt University in Berlin.
Prior to joining GMF he worked in different research, lecturing, and project-management positions at Freedom House, the German Council on Foreign Relations, the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. He has taught at the Institute for Eastern-European Studies at the Free University Berlin, Humboldt University in Berlin, and the Eötvös Loránd University Budapest.
Media Mentions
EU leaders seek to circumvent Orbán’s veto on military spending and aid to Ukraine
Daniel Hegedus, FT, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán loses friends in Poland over stance on Russia sanctions
Daniel Hegedus, FT, Viktor Orban wins new term as Hungary’s prime minister but OSCE criticises campaign
Daniel Hegedus, The Guardian, ‘We shouldn’t get involved’: Ukraine a key issue as Hungary heads to polls
Daniel Hegedus, AL Jazeera, Hungary’s parliamentary elections: All you need to know
Daniel Hegedus, FT, Hungary’s PM Orban faces voters at home — and isolation abroad
Featured Work
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November 30, 2024
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October 28, 2024
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October 16, 2024
Hungary’s government clearly wants the former US president to return to the White House and has been cultivating him and his wing of the Republican...
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October 3, 2024
Austria’s parliamentary election, held after two years of economic contraction and political infighting in a conservative-green governing coalition,...
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August 2, 2024
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán de-escalates after harsh reactions from the EU regarding his provocative foreign trips....
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July 9, 2024
In recent days, Viktor Orbán has trolled the rest of the EU with his diplomatic moves. To limit the damage he can do, it is necessary and possible to...
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July 5, 2024
Hungary assumed just days ago the six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union. ...
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June 13, 2024
Daniel Hegedüs looks at Hungary, where a reshuffle of the party landscape poses no threat to the stability of Viktor Orbán’s regime....
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June 6, 2024
The rightward shift in EU politics will not come from a breakthrough in the European Parliament elections by the radical right, but from parties in...
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May 21, 2024
Given the likely strengthening of the radical right in the European Parliament elections and the fact that three governments with domestic illiberal...
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December 13, 2023
A successful and democratic Ukraine is an existential threat to the autocratic regime in Hungary, which is playing a long game rather than seeking...
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October 18, 2023
Poland’s election results may have grave implications for Hungary’s autocratic prime minister, Viktor Orbán....
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October 2, 2023
The horse-trading to form Slovakia’s new coalition government is about to begin....
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January 6, 2023
GMF experts at the start of last year warily watched the growing Russian threat to Ukraine. “A full-scale Russian invasion has not been as salient a...
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July 5, 2022
The threat of global food shortages, even famine, posed by Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian grain exports, has been making headlines across the globe...
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The European Commission has brought the hammer down on Hungary for rule-of-law violations—a perilous move amid a raging war, but the correct one....
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March 4, 2022
A NATO-enforced no-fly zone that could protect Ukrainian forces and civilians from Russian air attacks has been the main demand of Ukrainian...
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January 6, 2022
As 2022 begins, eyes are trained on the Ukraine-Russia border as the potential for Russian escalation looms large. ...
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November 17, 2021
This year appears to have been a rather good one for democracy in Central Europe....
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October 27, 2021
Journos and experts who cover Hungarian politics are hastily learning a new name. ...
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July 1, 2021
Hungary’s recent anti-LGBTQ law has once again put in the spotlight all the challenges Viktor Orbán’s semi-authoritarian regime poses for the European...
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May 14, 2021
While the Biden administration has elevated the fight against authoritarian trends and corruption to a foreign policy priority, the U.S....
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March 5, 2021
The saga between the centre-right political family the European People's Party (EPP) and Hungary's Fidesz is one of the most captivating soap operas...
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December 14, 2020
The agreement reached at Thursday’s European Summit on the EU’s contested rule of law conditionality regulation put an end to the Hungarian-Polish...
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December 3, 2019
Romania’s presidential election last month served as an important litmus test of popular support for the main parties but did no...
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November 7, 2019
Editor's Note: GMF's Daniel Hegedus responds to a question by Judy Dempsey: Is Post-1989 Europe Building Walls?...
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April 11, 2018
After his landslide victory, Viktor Orbán will be empowered to continue Hungary’s slide into authoritarianism—and the opposition will need to rebuild...
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In the eyes of many “Old Europeans” the European Union’s democracy and rule of law crisis—that is, the ongoing autocratization in Hungary and Poland...
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Central and Eastern European Perspectives on the U.S. Election...
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Chancellor Angela Merkel has put the rule-of-law question at the center of her plans for Germany’s presidency of the Council of the EU that will last...
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External meddling in democratic elections has recently moved to the top of the political agenda in Western democracies. Since the U.S....
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The democratic decline of some EU members has by now matured into a mainstream challenge to the rules at the heart of European integration....
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A new wind of political protest has been blowing in ...
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Central and Eastern European Perspectives on the U.S. Election...
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Developments in recent years in countries like Hungary, Poland, or Bulgaria show that the track record of the EU institutions in dealing with...
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Rearranging its relationship toward China is one of the most crucial geostrategic challenges the European Union faces....
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The growing conflict within the European People’s Party (EPP) over what to do with Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party, which governs Hungary and has become...
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Wednesday afternoon the European Parliament launched the Article 7 procedure with a surprising majority to determine whether there is a clear risk of...
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Supporting civic activism in shrinking spaces and strengthening civil society outside of capital cities and large urban centers is one of the key...
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The recent presidential election in the United States has been widely expected to induce a profound change in the country’s foreign policy....
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The European Commission’s comprehensive rule-of-law report published on Wednesday is the first exercise of its kind in the EU...
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Local elections rarely enjoy much international attention. However, the unexpected success of Hungary’s united opposition at the recent municipal...