Daniel Hegedüs
Senior Visiting FellowDaniel Hegedüs is a senior visiting fellow with GMF and deputy director of the Institute for European Politics (IEP) in Berlin.
His research focuses on democratic and rule-of-law backsliding within the EU, the intersection of autocratization and foreign policy, and the European and foreign policies of the Visegrad countries.
Hegedüs previously served as GMF’s regional director for Central Europe and held variousresearch and lecturing positions at institutions including the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), Freedom House, the Institute for Eastern European Studies at the Free University of Berlin, Humboldt University of Berlin, and Eötvös Loránd University.
Hegedüs studied political science, history, and European law, is the author of more than 80 academic and policy papers, and is a frequent contributor to international media.
Media Mentions
EU leaders seek to circumvent Orbán’s veto on military spending and aid to Ukraine
Daniel Hegedus, FT, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán loses friends in Poland over stance on Russia sanctions
Daniel Hegedus, FT, Viktor Orban wins new term as Hungary’s prime minister but OSCE criticises campaign
Daniel Hegedus, The Guardian, ‘We shouldn’t get involved’: Ukraine a key issue as Hungary heads to polls
Daniel Hegedus, FT, Hungary’s PM Orban faces voters at home — and isolation abroad
Daniel Hegedus, AL Jazeera, Hungary’s parliamentary elections: All you need to know
Featured Work
Image
February 13, 2026
Image
Image
September 29, 2025
Image
September 9, 2025
Transatlantic Trusts Central Europe Regional Director Daniel Hegedüs appeared before the US House of Representatives’ Tom Lantos Human Rights...
Image
Image
November 30, 2024
Image
October 28, 2024
Image
October 16, 2024
Hungary’s government clearly wants the former US president to return to the White House and has been cultivating him and his wing of the Republican...
Image
Image
October 3, 2024
Austria’s parliamentary election, held after two years of economic contraction and political infighting in a conservative-green governing coalition,...
Image
August 2, 2024
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán de-escalates after harsh reactions from the EU regarding his provocative foreign trips....
Image
July 9, 2024
In recent days, Viktor Orbán has trolled the rest of the EU with his diplomatic moves. To limit the damage he can do, it is necessary and possible to...
Image
July 5, 2024
Hungary assumed just days ago the six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union. ...
Image
June 13, 2024
Daniel Hegedüs looks at Hungary, where a reshuffle of the party landscape poses no threat to the stability of Viktor Orbán’s regime....
Image
June 6, 2024
The rightward shift in EU politics will not come from a breakthrough in the European Parliament elections by the radical right, but from parties in...
Image
Image
May 21, 2024
Given the likely strengthening of the radical right in the European Parliament elections and the fact that three governments with domestic illiberal...
Image
Image
December 13, 2023
A successful and democratic Ukraine is an existential threat to the autocratic regime in Hungary, which is playing a long game rather than seeking...
Image
October 18, 2023
Poland’s election results may have grave implications for Hungary’s autocratic prime minister, Viktor Orbán....
Image
October 2, 2023
The horse-trading to form Slovakia’s new coalition government is about to begin....
Image
Image
January 6, 2023
GMF experts at the start of last year warily watched the growing Russian threat to Ukraine. “A full-scale Russian invasion has not been as salient a...
Image
July 5, 2022
The threat of global food shortages, even famine, posed by Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian grain exports, has been making headlines across the globe...
Image
The European Commission has brought the hammer down on Hungary for rule-of-law violations—a perilous move amid a raging war, but the correct one....
Image
Image
March 4, 2022
A NATO-enforced no-fly zone that could protect Ukrainian forces and civilians from Russian air attacks has been the main demand of Ukrainian...
Image
January 6, 2022
As 2022 begins, eyes are trained on the Ukraine-Russia border as the potential for Russian escalation looms large. ...
Image
November 17, 2021
This year appears to have been a rather good one for democracy in Central Europe....
Image
October 27, 2021
Journos and experts who cover Hungarian politics are hastily learning a new name. ...
Image
Image
July 1, 2021
Hungary’s recent anti-LGBTQ law has once again put in the spotlight all the challenges Viktor Orbán’s semi-authoritarian regime poses for the European...
Image
Image
May 14, 2021
While the Biden administration has elevated the fight against authoritarian trends and corruption to a foreign policy priority, the U.S....
Image
March 5, 2021
The saga between the centre-right political family the European People's Party (EPP) and Hungary's Fidesz is one of the most captivating soap operas...
Image
December 14, 2020
The agreement reached at Thursday’s European Summit on the EU’s contested rule of law conditionality regulation put an end to the Hungarian-Polish...
Image
Image
Image
December 3, 2019
Romania’s presidential election last month served as an important litmus test of popular support for the main parties but did no...
Image
November 7, 2019
Editor's Note: GMF's Daniel Hegedus responds to a question by Judy Dempsey: Is Post-1989 Europe Building Walls?...
Image
April 11, 2018
After his landslide victory, Viktor Orbán will be empowered to continue Hungary’s slide into authoritarianism—and the opposition will need to rebuild...
Image
Supporting civic activism in shrinking spaces and strengthening civil society outside of capital cities and large urban centers is one of the key...
Image
The recent presidential election in the United States has been widely expected to induce a profound change in the country’s foreign policy....
Image
The European Commission’s comprehensive rule-of-law report published on Wednesday is the first exercise of its kind in the EU...
Image
Image
Local elections rarely enjoy much international attention. However, the unexpected success of Hungary’s united opposition at the recent municipal...
Image
In the eyes of many “Old Europeans” the European Union’s democracy and rule of law crisis—that is, the ongoing autocratization in Hungary and Poland...
Image
Central and Eastern European Perspectives on the U.S. Election...
Image
Chancellor Angela Merkel has put the rule-of-law question at the center of her plans for Germany’s presidency of the Council of the EU that will last...
Image
External meddling in democratic elections has recently moved to the top of the political agenda in Western democracies. Since the U.S....
Image
The democratic decline of some EU members has by now matured into a mainstream challenge to the rules at the heart of European integration....
Image
A new wind of political protest has been blowing in ...
Image
Central and Eastern European Perspectives on the U.S. Election...
Image
Developments in recent years in countries like Hungary, Poland, or Bulgaria show that the track record of the EU institutions in dealing with...
Image
Rearranging its relationship toward China is one of the most crucial geostrategic challenges the European Union faces....
Image
The growing conflict within the European People’s Party (EPP) over what to do with Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party, which governs Hungary and has become...
Image
Wednesday afternoon the European Parliament launched the Article 7 procedure with a surprising majority to determine whether there is a clear risk of...