While the promise of dramatic reforms following Hungary’s April elections has captured headlines, that same month saw another major anti-corruption development in Europe. On April 22, a Moldovan court sentenced former politician, oligarch and power broker Vladimir Plahotniuc to 19 years in prison for his role in the 2014 theft of $1 billion from three Moldovan banks, which had also implicated a number of other business and political leaders.

On April 15, 2026, Democratic Congressman Joe Morelle announced a new Anti-Corruption and Democracy Reform Task Force. Some of those advising House Democrats on the task force have framed the effort as taking a political lesson from Hungary, where Viktor Orbán's April 12 defeat was driven to great extent by popular frustration over a well-documented record of corruption. It is important to note, however, that Rep. Morelle has given the task force a broad and nonpartisan frami