Well, those elections took place yesterday, and if anything, Orban’s party overperformed even the most optimistic expectations among pollsters. Not only did he win with nearly three-quarters of the vote, but his party should be left with a supermajority in Parliament, giving them the ability to enact changes to their constitution and basically write their own ticket for the next few years. This is being seen as a crushing blow by those who support the socialist minority and the unlimited immigration policies of the European Union. For example, check out how the New York Times described it.

The Guardian quickly declared that this election was a major blow to the European Union and spelled trouble for their long-term agenda.

Hoping that Orban suddenly becomes more moderate or “reasonable” may be a pipe dream for the EU leadership, at least to some extent. Hungary’s Prime Minister has been shaking his fist and defying their mandates for years, and has clearly leveraged the resentment many of his countryman feel toward EU supremacy into a massive victory at the polls. It’s true that he clearly seemed to up his rhetoric over the course of the campaign and there isn’t much of a need to do that now that he’s won, but expecting him to become more “reasonable” in his policies seems unrealistic.

The biggest reason for this stems from the mandate Orban continues to receive from his citizens. Unlike some elections in other countries (see: Russia or Venezuela) where valid questions are raised about the legitimacy of the voting process, Orban is widely acknowledged as being wildly popular with the people of Hungary. They hold massive rallies in the streets for him, with well attended marches supporting his policies. He has no need to suppress the opposition or tamper with the votes because he does indeed appear to reflect the will of the people and their desire for national sovereignty and control of their borders.