5 of Our Best Reads on Viktor Orban, Hungary’s Returning Far-Right Leader

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/08/world/europe/viktor-orban-hungary.html

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Viktor Orban was formally sworn in as Hungary’s prime minister for a third successive term on Tuesday, as Parliament met for the first time since his electoral alliance won a large majority in a general election on April 8.

Mr. Orban’s party, Fidesz, and the allied Christian Democratic People’s Party won 133 of the 199 seats in Parliamentary after a campaign that election observers called free but not entirely fair. They relied heavily on xenophobic rhetoric, and appeared to unfairly harness state resources, according to observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

The majority is large enough to vote through changes to Hungary’s Constitution, a power Mr. Orban last held in 2015.

Since entering office for the second time in 2010, Mr. Orban has become a hero to the global far right for his nativist policies and for his efforts to mold Hungary into what he describes as an illiberal state.

Here is a selection of recent in-depth New York Times articles about his time in office.

Over the past eight years, Mr. Orban has undermined many of the institutional checks and balances that liberal democracies depend on, installing loyalists at most state watchdogs and tweaking the election system to favor Fidesz. His appointees now control the judiciary, the Constitutional Court, the prosecution service, the electoral authority and the central bank.

In parallel, Mr. Orban has tightened his grip over Hungarian culture — targeting its artistic sphere, civil society and education system. He has sought to penalize rights groups, particularly those backed by the Hungarian-American philanthropist and financier George Soros. His narratives dominate state media and parts of the national curriculum, and his allies control most private media outlets and many universities and cultural institutions.

Mr. Orban began his political life in the late 1980s as a liberal dissident, a friend to civil society, and an academic whose research was funded by Mr. Soros. In the three decades since, he drifted first to the center ground, then to the center right, and finally to the far right, as he sought power above ideological consistency.

Mr. Orban remains popular with many Hungarians — partly because of how the economy has performed under his leadership. Wages have risen more than 10 percent while unemployment — according to the official statistics — has fallen nearly two-thirds. But employment economists have questioned claims of an economic miracle, since the figures include Hungarians who have found work abroad, or in government-run schemes that pay less than the minimum wage.

Mr. Orban did not release a manifesto during the campaign, but he did promise to seek “moral, political and legal amends” against his critics. That could include rights groups that work with migrants, who would face sanctions under draft legislation known as the “Stop Soros” package. And it has already included a panel of critical judges, many of whom resigned under pressure from allies of the newly emboldened administration.