Illustration The transformation of the European Union into an increasingly centralized structure—what many describe as the “United States of Europe”—is now closer than ever after Fidesz’s defeat in Hungary. As soon as the new Hungarian government’s victory was confirmed, Ursula von der Leyen declared that Hungary was “returning to its European path.” It sounded like a congratulatory remark. In reality, it signaled that the EU’s main sovereigntist stronghold has fallen. For years, Viktor Orbán turned Hungary into the firmest obstacle to the political integration project that the Commission, much of the European Parliament, and several major member states have long sought to advance. Budapest blocked sanctions, challenged the rule-of-law conditionality mechanism, rejected mandatory migrant quotas, and, above all, used unanimity as a tool to defend national interests. That is now over. The first consequence will be political. Without Budapest, the governments that still defend greater …