section_path: History/Third Republic (1989–present)
section_name: Third Republic (1989–present)
paragraph_text: Third Republic (1989–present)
  
  Hungary's transition from communism to capitalism (rendszerváltás, "regime change") was peaceful and prompted by economic stagnation, domestic political pressure, and changing relations with other Warsaw Pact countries. Although the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party began Round Table Talks with various opposition groups in March 1989, the reburial of Imre Nagy as a revolutionary martyr that June is widely considered the symbolic end of communism in Hungary. Free elections were held in May 1990, and the Hungarian Democratic Forum, a major conservative opposition group, was elected to the head of a coalition government. József Antall became the first democratically elected prime minister since World War II.
  
  With the removal of state subsidies and rapid privatisation in 1991, Hungary was affected by a severe economic recession. The Antall government's austerity measures proved unpopular, and the Communist Party's legal and political heir, the Socialist Party, won the subsequent 1994 elections. This abrupt shift in the political landscape was repeated in 1998 and 2002; in each electoral cycle, the governing party was ousted and the erstwhile opposition elected. Like most other post-communist European states, however, Hungary broadly pursued an integrationist agenda, joining NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004. As a NATO member, Hungary was involved in the Yugoslav Wars.
  
  In 2006, major nationwide protests erupted after it was revealed that Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány had claimed in a closed-door speech that his party "lied" to win the recent elections. The popularity of left-wing parties plummeted in the ensuing political upheaval, and in 2010, Viktor Orbán 's national-conservative Fidesz party was elected to a parliamentary supermajority. The legislature consequently approved a new constitution, among other sweeping governmental and legal changes including the establishment of new parliamentary constituencies, decreasing the number of parliamentarians, and shifting to single-round parliamentary elections. Fidesz has won supermajorities in every subsequent election.
  
  Since Orbán's election in 2010, Hungary has undergone democratic backsliding. It has been characterised as an illiberal democracy,: 95 hybrid regime, kleptocracy, dominant-party system, and mafia state. Orbán has publicly embraced illiberalism,: 9 characterising Hungary as an "illiberal Christian democracy". As a result of these developments, Hungary's relationship with the United States and the European Union have entered a period of protracted strain. Past and ongoing areas of conflict include LGBT rights, migration, the lex CEU, Hungary's decision to authorise Russian and Chinese vaccines during the coronavirus pandemic, and international sanctions against Russia. The Orbán government has simultaneously come under increased international scrutiny over rule of law concerns. Hungary has and continues to dispute these allegations.
  
  In 2018, the European Parliament voted to act against Hungary under the terms of Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union. In March 2025, Estonia pushed for a suspension of Hungary's EU voting rights. In May 2025 EU Commissioner for Democracy, Justice and the Rule of Law Michael McGrath expressed serious concerns about Hungary. In June 2025 an advocate general at the European Court of Justice ruled that "EU law has been violated 'on three different levels': with regard to the e-commerce directive, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and finally the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights ".