An article published on the German Cicero website under the title “Orbán’s advantage over Merz” analyses what lies behind Viktor Orbán’s political success and what the German Chancellor lacks in order to achieve similar results both domestically and internationally.
According to the article, the Hungarian prime minister owes his success mainly to his ability to organise politics into a clear, coherent narrative in which sovereignty, national identity and control play a central role. By contrast, Friedrich Merz has to govern within a German system built on compromise, where it is more difficult to achieve visible results. The author argues that Viktor Orbán rightly sees that a stronger European Union also requires stronger nation states, and that many European leaders – including Merz – could learn from him.
The piece emphasises that one of Orbán’s greatest advantages is that he places a unified narrative at the centre of his politics, organised around the concepts of sovereignty, defence, national self-determination and cultural continuity. According to the author, this coherence is missing from many Western European heads of state and government, who function more as crisis managers than as leaders with a comprehensive vision for the future.
The article also highlights the long-term relational capital that the Hungarian prime minister has built. As an example, it mentions his publicly good relationship with former Chancellor Helmut Kohl, which “served as a bridge of legitimacy for him towards Western European conservative circles”.
Friedrich Merz’s position is further complicated by the fact that he does not enjoy the same level of support as Orbán, so he is forced to govern in coalition and must navigate between regional vetoes, courts and EU negotiations. The Chancellor’s decisions often come across to the German public as compromises, which further weakens trust in his leadership. By contrast, the Hungarian prime minister is able to communicate such decisions as his own firm choices, which radiates confidence.
“Those who participate in national elections increasingly find that key decisions are already made in advance in Brussels,” the author states, arguing that this creates a legitimacy problem which Viktor Orbán openly communicates, while many Western European governments avoid the issue.
