Categories: WORLD

Viktor Orban, The EU Leader Who Can’t Quit Putin, Faces A United Front In Hungary’s Election

Six weeks ago, Hungary’s election campaign looked and sounded very different.

Viktor Orban, Hungary’s prime minister, delivers his final campaign speech ahead of the general election, in Szekesfehervar, Hungary, on Friday, April 1, 2022

The stakes were already high. Viktor Orban, the longest-serving national leader in the European Union, was seeking to extend his authoritarian premiership deep into its second decade. His rival, leading a united front of opposition parties, bluntly denounced Orban’s crusade against independent institutions and the rule of law.

But the political focus was resolutely domestic. When foreign policy took center stage, it was usually raised by Orban to tout his international credentials — such as on February 1, when he boasted of his political longevity while in Moscow, a few feet from his staunch ally President Vladimir Putin.

Sponsored

Now, everything has changed. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine later that same month has upended the race, recasting its protagonists and rewriting their pitches. It has left Orban, widely regarded as the EU’s most pro-Kremlin leader, walking a political tightrope. And it has shone a spotlight on a years-long entanglement between him and the Russian President, two strongmen whose political journeys bear some notable similarities.

“If you want to analyze the election campaign, you have to draw a line on February 24,” said Andrea Virág, director of strategy at the Republikon Institute think tank in Budapest, Hungary’s capital. “Since the war started, it’s completely different.”
SPONSORED
ABN Editor 2

An open source journalist and content manager

Recent Posts

Makinde Announces Arrest Of Oyo Children Funfair Organizers

The organizers of a children's funfair have been arrested after a stampede at the Islamic…

1 day ago

Tinubu Vows To Tackle Unemployment Head-On In 2025, Assures Youths

The determination of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's administration to address youth unemployment head-on in the…

1 day ago

Police Arrest 3 Car Thieves, Bandit , Seize Weapons In Kaduna

The Kaduna Police Command reported that on December 16, 2024, three alleged car snatchers and…

1 day ago

Multiple Children Feared Dead In Oyo Funfair

According to reports, a stampede during a children's carnival in the state capital of Ibadan…

1 day ago

Indiana Carries Out Its First Execution In 15 Years

Indiana, a US state, executed a mentally ill man on Wednesday for the first time…

1 day ago

Amorim Keen For Departing Rashford To Remain At Manchester United

Ruben Amorim, the manager of Manchester United, stated that he wants to retain Marcus Rashford…

1 day ago