Dear friends and interested readers,
Welcome to the 17th newsletter on and against global authoritarianism, May 2026. Now that the Orbán era has come to an end with a crushing defeat, internal party conflicts within the AfD continue: anyone who advocates too strongly for Western alliances faces expulsion.
In our ReGA newsletter, you’ll find
→ as always, a look at the AfD’s foreign policy, this time focusing on the early retirement of AfD defense policy spokesperson Lucassen and the AfD’s fight against safe abortions internationally,
→ under “Europe’s Far Right,” we report on the changes in Hungary and the embezzlement investigations against the far right in the EU Parliament
→ under “International Reports,” you’ll find a report by Miquel Ramos on the situation of the far right in Spain following the regional elections, where the conservative Partido Popular is reaching out to the far-right VOX party in the hope of forming a coalition government: No Cordon Sanitaire in Spain
→ In our Linea B project, you can read an interview from Latin America with Colombian political scientist Estefanía Ciro on the situation in Colombia ahead of the elections at the end of May, which will be decisive for the balance of power in the region. We also report on Peter Thiel, who currently resides in Buenos Aires, and what plans he might have for Argentina and Chile
→ Finally, information about upcoming and past events—organized by and against the far right!
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A major victory and a glimmer of hope for democratic and anti-authoritarian forces: On April 12, the Hungarian people voted out Viktor Orbán’s authoritarian government. Although pro-Orbán advertising and reporting dominated the election campaign by as much as 90 percent, although the media landscape has already been brought almost completely into line, and although the democratic separation of powers in Hungary has already been largely dismantled—despite all this, Hungarians voted against the Orbán system by an overwhelming majority.
However, it was not progressive, left-wing, or feminist forces that achieved this, as Eszter Kováts—herself a feminist—acknowledges. It was Péter Magyar and his TISZA party who managed to “translate this longing of the people into a political platform that appealed to the majority of the electorate,” writes Adéla Jurečková in an analysis for the Böll Foundation. The issues that consequently concern people in Hungary the most are: “an affordable standard of living, a state free of corruption, and a healthcare system that meets the demands of the 21st century.” According to Adéla Jurečková, this election offers much to learn for the resistance against authoritarian forms of government.
However, it is also clear that Magyar holds nationalist and right-wing views, wants to maintain closed borders, and presumably does not believe that human rights apply equally to everyone. There will be significant potential for conflict, but perhaps, for the first time in a while, an opportunity to develop and promote progressive policies. Read more on the implications of Orbán's election defeat here.
A different beginning took place on April 17 and 19 in Barcelona at the first meeting of the Global Progressive Mobilization (GPM), a platform launched by the social democratic and socialist left. According to the call to action, the goal is to offer a visible and vibrant alternative to conservative and far-right forces. As reported by vorwärts, 4,000 people from 40 countries gathered to form a counterweight to Trump’s MAGA movement. Prominent party figures in attendance included Stefan Löfven (Sweden, Party of European Socialists) and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez from Europe, as well as Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Brazil), Cyril Ramaphosa (South Africa), and Tim Walz (USA) on the international stage—either in person or virtually.
It is highly doubtful whether the GPM can carry enough weight to counter the MAGA movement, which has been active for many years, or the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), which has been operating for decades. German Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil (SPD) said from the stage in Barcelona: “The far right is international, so we must be international.” That is certainly not enough to establish a new internationalism. More details about the GPM’s agenda and recordings of workshops can be found online at the FEPS Foundation here.
The attacks on opponents of the authoritarian right continue. As Sam Biddle reported for The Intercept, Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram, is also adopting the U.S. government’s plans to “fight Antifa.” Posts containing the word “antifa” are to be flagged as “potential policy violations” if a “content-related warning signal” is triggered. In its National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 (NSPM-7), the U.S. government classified “Antifa” as a terrorist group and is creating a database of actors classified as such.
In an article for the Verfassungsblog, Sascha Wolf describes past failed attempts to implement an “Antifa ban” in Germany and discusses “debanking”—the closure of bank accounts held by organizations in the anti-fascist movement—which he argues amounts to “a backdoor ban on associations that violates the rule of law and renders them unable to act.”
Meanwhile, the state of press freedom has deteriorated significantly, as shown by the 2026 Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). According to the report, for the first time this millennium, more than half of all countries fall into the “difficult” or “very serious” categories. RSF describes the criminalization of journalistic work as “one of the greatest threats to democracies worldwide.”
Germany has slipped to 14th place in the rankings. “The use of criminal complaints and court proceedings as political tools is increasingly restricting the scope for press freedom.” A report published back in February identifies the delegitimization of journalistic work as a “major threat to journalism in Germany.” “This delegitimization is fueled by rapidly growing media circles from the far-right spectrum, which are gaining ever greater reach through sensationalism and disinformation.” When such campaigns are specifically directed against journalists and media outlets, journalistic freedom suffers, according to RSF.
Internationally, Reporters Without Borders highlights, among others, Argentina and El Salvador (ranked 98th and 143rd, respectively, on the Press Freedom Index), whose presidents, Javier Milei and Nayib Bukele, “are among the most vocal supporters of Donald Trump in Latin America and openly display their hostility toward the press.” In both countries, according to RSF, the political and sociocultural conditions have continued to deteriorate.
In this newsletter, we report on restrictions on the press in Argentina, where access to the seat of government was temporarily blocked and is now restricted.