what’s past is prologue.
But on sanctions, Hungary is the only country besides Italy that appears willing to terminate the embargo. It’s true that if the sanctions are annulled Hungarian farmers would win back markets that they lost two years ago. But there’s something bigger at stake. Orban has explicitly praised Putin’s “illiberal democracy” as a model for European countries, and used Hungary as one of its showcases. Indeed, the two strongmen share much in terms of their authoritarian style of governance, oligarch-led economies, and exploitation of national populism. This enables them to do business together in more ways than one.
In Budapest, one gets an in-the-face dose of the pro-Russia tone by opening just about any mainstream newspaper or tuning into the broadcast media, most of which is linked to the government. They overflow with praise for Russia and Putin. “It’s very deeply and consistently pro-Russian,” says the Hungarian journalist Attila Bátorfy, who also notes the recent proliferation of pro-Russian websites, Facebook pages, and other social media using translated Russian content. “Everyday there’s another angle, like how great the Russian military is or what a great emperor Putin is. The far right and pro-Orban media say Hungary shouldn’t be part of a colony led by the U.S. and the EU. This kind of Western liberalism isn’t for us.”
