Hungary’s new government took one of the country’s leading conservative news outlets, Mandiner, into state ownership and shut it down. But its journalists refused to give up. Now they’re back with Konfront, a newly launched media outlet carrying on their work. I was glad to give them an interview about where Hungary’s economy is heading under the new government. 1. The entire 2027 budget is built on wishful thinking. The government promises 2.4% economic growth and a 4.9% deficit, while introducing austerity measures worth roughly 3% of GDP: 0.6% already this year, another 1.4% from abandoning previously legislated commitments, and an additional 1% in revenue measures. 2. The rollback of our economic achievements is already happening. The government’s own announcements confirm it: the planned expansion of the 14th-month pension has been abandoned, the lifetime income-tax exemption will not be extended to mothers of two over 40, and existing exemptions face new income limits. Businesses face higher taxes, while access to homeownership is becoming more difficult. Policies designed to support families, pensioners and Hungarian businesses are being reversed. 3. The mistakes have a strategic depth as well: Hungary is being tied to a declining economic centre. Our strategy was to compensate for Europe’s economic weakness by securing energy, investment and financial backing from across the world: something I call connectivity. The new government is abandoning this approach and putting Brussels at the centre of its economic decisions. Instead of competing for global investment, Hungary will be left fighting for an increasingly limited pool of European funds and capital, while Ukraine and military spending absorb growing resources. 4. The consequences will be felt by ordinary Hungarians. Rising energy prices threaten another wave of inflation, higher living costs, weaker competitiveness and fewer investments. And the European economy we are becoming increasingly dependent on is itself struggling. You cannot sail towards prosperity by tying your boat to a ship that is dead in the water. Hungary needs economic sovereignty and global openness, not dependence on a stagnating European centre.