Orban's defeat is not just a Hungarian story. It's an earthquake with its epicenter in Budapest and waves reaching Belgrade, Banja Luka, and Skopje. German media said it directly - this is bad news for Vučić, Dodik, and Mickoski.

Analyst Daniel Smilov from Deutsche Welle writes that association with the MAGA agenda has proven to be electoral poison worldwide. Trump's approval rating in the US is at a record low, Farage in Britain lacks electoral momentum, and Meloni is openly distancing herself from Trump's latest moves. Even in Bulgaria, Orban's allies stay silent, hoping Vice President Vance won't send messages they'd rather not receive.

"Orbanomics" in numbers

Hungary's nominal GDP per capita in 2025: $25,128. Compare: Poland $28,400, Czechia $35,161, Romania $22,436, Bulgaria $20,400, Serbia $15,322. Fourteen years of "sovereign politics" and Hungary trails Poland and sits far behind Czechia. The numbers don't lie - and voters finally read them.

Smilov concludes that a united Europe is the only salvation for European nations in a new neo-imperial world. By year's end, Britain may rejoin the EU's customs union, effectively revising Brexit. Times are changing - the question is whether the Balkans will change with them or remain nostalgic for an umbrella that no longer exists.