Sixteen years in power, then - defeat. Not narrow, not disputed, but total. Viktor Orban in his first interview after election night doesn't hide behind advisors and "strategic errors by the team." He said it directly: "Me. I am the party president."

In a conversation on the YouTube channel Patriota, Orban described a moment few politicians would admit publicly: "At the first turnout data. Fidesz's campaign was built on normal turnout, but it turned out it wasn't - that many more people were voting and all that increase was going against Fidesz."

What did he feel? "Pain and emptiness. On Sunday more pain, on Monday emptiness too. Since then I've been on work therapy - trying to drive out or fill that emptiness." Unusual honesty for a man who ruled with an iron fist for 16 years.

What did he admit and what didn't he?

Orban openly said the luxurious lifestyle of party officials "certainly affected the result and it can't continue like that." On corruption - standard: "I never allowed it, it's a criminal offense." But luxury, that's a different story. And Orban knows it.

He cited the Paks 2 nuclear plant as a key failure: "It should have been built much earlier, and then the Hungarian economy wouldn't be in such problems." Rare self-criticism for a project Budapest negotiated with Moscow while Europe imposed sanctions.

Orban skips summit, Magyar waits in the lobby

Alongside the interview came confirmation: Orban will not participate in the informal EU leaders summit scheduled for April 23-24. European Affairs Minister Janos Boka explained the reason as "obligations around the transfer of power." Orban didn't appoint a substitute because, they say, this is an informal meeting without official decisions.

On the agenda: the Middle East crisis and the next seven-year EU budget. Hungary, according to Boka, "maintains its already defined and unchanged position." In other words - attendance is optional when your position is set in concrete. Will Peter Magyar have the same luxury of ignoring Brussels? That's an entirely different question.

Orban announced a Fidesz congress to elect new leadership by early summer and a complete restructuring of the parliamentary group. "Those who entered parliament aren't necessarily those we need for what comes next," he said. He accepts the defeat, but not the end. He told 2.3 million voters: "Be proud, we know we decided correctly."

The man who lost nothing for 16 years is now learning to lose in public. Will he come back? In the Balkans, we know: politicians never truly leave.