Hungary’s election campaign begins, Peru to have eighth leader in as many years, ECB’s Lagarde mulls early exit

Campaign season in EU’s most important election of 2026 begins

The Hungarian election is off to the races, and nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is facing his most serious challenger in 16 years. Over the weekend, Orbán and his center-right European Parliament member Péter Magyar launched their campaigns, with polls showing Orbán trailing Magyar and his Tisza party. Orbán, who is close with Russian President Vladimir Putin, has used his power to tighten control over media and courts and Hungary’s veto to stall sanctions on Moscow and Ukraine aid. His Fidesz party has been trying to divide Magyar’s base on culture war issues and to paint him as a puppet of Brussels. A Magyar win wouldn’t mark a liberal U-turn, but could smooth the European Union’s support for Kyiv and rebuke right-wing populism currently on the rise in Europe.

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Peru impeaches yet another president

After just four months in office, Peru’s President José Jerí will join the long line of predecessors to be removed. The country’s Congress on Tuesday voted to impeach Jerí after videos released online showed him attending undisclosed meetings with a wealthy Chinese businessman under government scrutiny. Jerí, who only took office after his predecessor was impeached, said the leak was politically motivated ahead of the upcoming presidential elections on April 12. Since 2016, Peru has had seven presidents, and only one made it through their whole term. The legislature will pick an interim leader today. Despite having a revolving door of presidents, Peru has one of the most stable economies in South America, maintaining low inflation and far less turbulence than its regional neighbors like Ecuador and Argentina.

Will Lagarde leave Europe’s central bank early?

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, whose eight-year term ends in October 2027, plans to end her term before next year’s French presidential election, according to the Financial Times. Doing so would allow French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, two centrist leaders with large sway over the process, to lead the search for her replacement, and circumvent the risk of a hard-right French leader having a say – a recent poll showed National Rally leader Jordan Bardella winning the 2027 election. The Wall Street Journal disputed the FT’s piece, reporting that Lagarde hadn’t yet made a decision. Lagarde’s role as ECB president is akin to that of US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell: she manages monetary policy for the euro, a currency used by 27 countries and entities, and some 350 million people.