How did Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán transform from the young “ultimate anarcho-liberal” leader of the early post-Soviet years to the heavy-handed autocrat we know today? In her latest Foreign policy article, “The Autocrat Inside the EU,” SPP’s Center for Media & Communication Studies researcher Amy Brouillette argues Orbán, as a “consummate politician,” is motivated by his quest for power.
Entering the political scene 25 years ago, Orbán garnered support as a provocative opposition leader pushing for democratic reforms. Along with fellow liberal law students, he founded the party Fidesz, the Alliance of Young Democrats, with a strong belief in fundamental human rights and liberal values.
Now a three-term prime minister and leader of a transformed Fidesz, the current conservative majority, “he has embraced a grab bag of rhetoric and policies, picking and choosing whatever he believes (usually correctly) will allow him and his party to maintain a tight grasp on Hungary.” Rather than holding firm to an ideology, Brouillette observes Orbán’s pragmatism in politics and his innate ability to “spot – or sometimes instigate – political opportunities in order to grab and retain power.”
Concentrating power in his own hands, Orbán draws comparisons with Russia’s Vladimir Putin. A variety of measures remind international observers of a Putin-like regime: passing restrictive legislation with his conservative majority, working in tandem with Fidesz oligarchs at the head of key industries, and attacking NGOs and civil society groups as promoters of foreign interests. Despite international dismay at Orbán’s intentions to build an “illiberal state,” the European Union has yet to respond in a substantive manner to the autocrat inside its own home.
Brouillette concludes somberly, “Orbán has no intention of stepping aside anytime soon. Indeed, he seems keen on the same thing he always has: amassing more and more power.”
Photo credit: Andras Csore