EU hearts will sink as 'illiberal democrat' Viktor Orban wins another term, Katya Adler writes.
You could almost hear the collective thud of EU hearts sinking on Sunday night as Viktor Orban made his victory speech.A self-styled illiberal democrat, Hungary's prime minister has repeatedly clashed with Brussels over rule of law issues, like press freedom and migration.That's why there was so much international attention on Hungary's election.
Of course Orban is no Putin. Though an election billboard on Hungarian highways, sponsored by opposition parties, suggested as much. But Orban is the leader of an EU and Nato member country, at a time when both are deeply at odds with Moscow over the invasion of Ukraine. But at the same time opponents back home complained Hungarian state media was churning out propaganda-like news, "Russia-style" about the war in Ukraine.
It was striking this Sunday, that in addition to his supporters, the majority of anti-Orban voters I spoke to in polling stations were ambivalent about who was to blame for the bloodshed in Ukraine.
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