Hungary’s nationalist leader, Viktor Orbán, will be the star speaker at an extraordinary session of America’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) to be held in Hungary this week, in an effort to cement bonds between the radical right on both sides of the Atlantic under the banner of the “great replacement” ideology.
In a speech on Monday, Orbán made explicit reference to the ideology, which claims there is a liberal plot to dilute the white populations of the US and European countries through immigration. Increasingly widespread among US Republicans, the creed was cited by the killer who opened fire on Saturday in a supermarket in a predominantly black area of Buffalo, New York.
Speaking in Buffalo on Tuesday, Joe Biden called it a “perverse ideology” and “a lie”.
“I call on all Americans to reject the lie. I condemn those who spread the lie for power, political gain and for profit,” Biden said. “We’ve now seen too many times the deadly and destructive violence this ideology unleashes.”
Read more at>
Orbán and US right to bond at Cpac in Hungary over ‘great replacement’ ideology | Viktor Orbán | The Guardian
Showing posts with label Viktor Orban. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Viktor Orban. Show all posts
5/18/22
5/23/21
Hungary′s Viktor Orban faces challenge from Budapest mayor
Budapest's liberal Mayor Gergely Karacsony on Saturday declared his plan to contest joint opposition primaries in September and October, hoping to become top challenger to Viktor Orban in general elections due next April.
Read more at: Hungary′s Viktor Orban faces challenge from Budapest mayor | News | DW | 15.05.2021
Read more at: Hungary′s Viktor Orban faces challenge from Budapest mayor | News | DW | 15.05.2021
6/16/20
EU: Hungary ends emergency powers, but new law opens up potential to re-apply them
The Hungarian Parliament voted on Tuesday to end the nation's state of
emergency, revoking a controversial law that handed extra powers to
Viktor Orbán's government to fight the spread of coronavirus without a
predefined end date.
But human rights groups say the bill terminating the "state of danger" in Hungary still makes it easier for the government to rule by decree and will erode the rule of law in the EU country.
Read more at:
Hungary ends emergency powers, but new law opens up potential to re-apply them | Euronews
But human rights groups say the bill terminating the "state of danger" in Hungary still makes it easier for the government to rule by decree and will erode the rule of law in the EU country.
Read more at:
Hungary ends emergency powers, but new law opens up potential to re-apply them | Euronews
11/7/19
Hungary and Turkey relations: Turkey′s Erdogan finds ally on Syria plan in visit with Hungary′s Orban
Despite facing EU censure over Turkey's Syria offensive, Erdogan has landed support from Hungary. During a visit, Erdogan repeated his threat to let refugees come to Europe and was hailed as a security partner by Orban.
Read more at:
https://www.dw.com/en/turkeys-erdogan-finds-ally-on-syria-plan-in-visit-with-hungarys-orban/a-51154632
Read more at:
https://www.dw.com/en/turkeys-erdogan-finds-ally-on-syria-plan-in-visit-with-hungarys-orban/a-51154632
8/19/19
Hungary: Merkel meets Orban in Hungary to commemorate ′Pan-European Picnic′
German Chancellor Angela Merkel met Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor
Orban on Monday as part of the 'Pan-European Picnic' anniversary.
The symbolic event 30 years ago was a show of support for a united Europe that led to the first exodus from behind the Iron Curtain.
"The picnic was the biggest mass exodus from the GDR since the construction of the wall in 1961. The picnic turned into a world event and reflected the values of "solidarity, freedom and a humane Europe," Merkel said, thanking Hungary for playing its part in opening the borders.
Merkel and her Hungarian counterpart attended a service at the Protestant church in Sopron, a city near Hungary's border with Austria, where hundreds of East Germans took advantage of the picnic and fled West.
"Sopron is an example of how much we Europeans can achieve, if we courageously stand up for our indivisible values," the German Chancellor added.
Read more: Merkel meets Orban in Hungary to commemorate ′Pan-European Picnic′ | News | DW | 19.08.2019
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The symbolic event 30 years ago was a show of support for a united Europe that led to the first exodus from behind the Iron Curtain.
"The picnic was the biggest mass exodus from the GDR since the construction of the wall in 1961. The picnic turned into a world event and reflected the values of "solidarity, freedom and a humane Europe," Merkel said, thanking Hungary for playing its part in opening the borders.
Merkel and her Hungarian counterpart attended a service at the Protestant church in Sopron, a city near Hungary's border with Austria, where hundreds of East Germans took advantage of the picnic and fled West.
"Sopron is an example of how much we Europeans can achieve, if we courageously stand up for our indivisible values," the German Chancellor added.
Read more: Merkel meets Orban in Hungary to commemorate ′Pan-European Picnic′ | News | DW | 19.08.2019
For additional information, including advertising rates - e-mail:Freeplanet@protonmail.com
5/13/19
Hungary - US relations: Trump praises Orban form protectie Christians form migrants
WATCH: Trump praises Orban for protecting Christians from migrants
Read more at:
5/3/19
US Hungary Relations: Birds of one feather flock together as Donald Trump invites Viktor Orban to Washington
Note EU-Digest: If this does not make alarm bells go off in Brussels it would be beyond understanding.
Read more at:
Read more at:
9/10/18
Hungary: Could Hungary lose its EU voting rights as a result of Human Rights violations by Orban Government??
 |
| Human Rights Violations demonstration in Budapest, Hungay |
Marta Pardavi said she knew all too well what would be waiting for her after speaking out in Brussels about the Hungarian government's continuing crackdown on human rights and rule of law. Pardavi, the co-chair of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, lives daily with the repercussions of defending what are generally considered "European values" — but not in Viktor Orban's Hungary.
Pardavi, whose organization represents and defends asylum-seekers in Hungary, described to DW what happened after a recent appearance before the civil liberties committee in the European Parliament (EP). "Already during the event, while I was sitting here in Brussels in the European Parliament, my colleagues in the office were flooded with hate mails, with telephone calls, calling me and my organization out for 'slandering Hungary' while we stand up for democracy," she recalled. "My name and my picture and those of my colleagues who come to Brussels to talk about the rule-of-law problems in Hungary are always targeted after these events. It's not only a fear but based on evidence that I know that this will be happening."
As Pardavi predicted, within an hour of this event finishing, the Budapest office of Amnesty International, which also had a representative on the panel, reported it had received a death threat for supporting the "VoteYes4Hungary" campaign urging the EP to vote Wednesday to launch Article 7 sanction procedures against the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, which could lead to a suspension of voting rights in EU affairs.
Could Hungary lose its EU voting rights? | Europe| News and current affairs from around the continent | DW | 10.09.2018
4/10/18
Hungary: Freedom of the Press: Hungary press freedom takes another hit as newspaper to close
One of Hungary's two national opposition dailies will shut down on Wednesday due to financial problems, its publisher said, in a sign of rapidly deteriorating prospects for media freedom after the landslide re-election of Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
The closing of Magyar Nemzet will be a milestone in the gradual disappearance of independent media in Hungary that western European Union leaders and international rights groups say underlines the country's slide into authoritarianism.
The 80-year-old daily is owned by tycoon Lajos Simicska, once an ally of the right-wing nationalist prime minister, who had a falling out with him and became one of his staunchest opponents in the election campaign.
Read more: Hungary press freedom takes another hit as newspaper to close | CBC News
4/8/18
Hungary - Parliamentary elections: Hungarian ruling party leads in parliamentary election results
Prime Minister Viktor Orban's party Fidesz came away victorious in
Sunday's parliamentary elections, receiving 49.2 percent of the vote
according to preliminary results. With 85 percent of ballots counted,
Fidesz has won a two-thirds majority in parliament, with a projected 133
seats of the 199 seats in the chamber.
Hungary's Nationalist Jobbik party came in a distant second with 20 percent of the vote and the Socialist Party received 12 percent. Two other parties, the Democratic Coalition and the green Politics Can Be Different parties are expected to surpass the 5 percent threshold and will join the legislative body.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban's party Fidesz came away victorious in Sunday's parliamentary elections, receiving 49.2 percent of the vote according to preliminary results. With 85 percent of ballots counted,
Fidesz has won a two-thirds majority in parliament, with a projected 133 seats of the 199 seats in the chamber.
Hungary's Nationalist Jobbik party came in a distant second with 20 percent of the vote and the Socialist Party received 12 percent. Two other parties, the Democratic Coalition and the green Politics Can Be Different parties are expected to surpass the 5 percent threshold and will join the legislative body.
Read more: Hungarian ruling party leads in parliamentary election results | News | DW | 08.04.2018
Hungary's Nationalist Jobbik party came in a distant second with 20 percent of the vote and the Socialist Party received 12 percent. Two other parties, the Democratic Coalition and the green Politics Can Be Different parties are expected to surpass the 5 percent threshold and will join the legislative body.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban's party Fidesz came away victorious in Sunday's parliamentary elections, receiving 49.2 percent of the vote according to preliminary results. With 85 percent of ballots counted,
Fidesz has won a two-thirds majority in parliament, with a projected 133 seats of the 199 seats in the chamber.
Hungary's Nationalist Jobbik party came in a distant second with 20 percent of the vote and the Socialist Party received 12 percent. Two other parties, the Democratic Coalition and the green Politics Can Be Different parties are expected to surpass the 5 percent threshold and will join the legislative body.
Read more: Hungarian ruling party leads in parliamentary election results | News | DW | 08.04.2018
4/7/18
Hungary: EU wants to hit Hungary′s Viktor Orban where it hurts: The wallet
Few in Brussels doubt that Prime Minister Viktor Orban's national-conservative Fidesz party will be victorious in Sunday's Hungarian elections. The European Union is bracing for another four years of Orbanism, as diplomats in Brussels call Hungary's shift toward authoritarianism and its permanent opposition to the EU mainstream.
The European Commission has been observing Orban's massive push to restructure Hungary's government, justice system and media landscape since 2010. It has launched a number of so-called infringement of contract proceedings in an effort to correct Hungarian laws that violate EU law.
Orban made a number of concessions after facing the threat of an Article 7 procedure, which, according to the EU Treaty, allows Brussels to suspend certain rights of member countries. Nevertheless, Orban's relationship with the European Commission remains strained.
Read more: In Hungary election voters face choice of nightmares
The Hungarian government refuses, for instance, to implement a European Court of Justice (ECOJ) decision demanding it accept refugees. Orban often speaks of "EU dictates" and incites against an "infiltration by Islamic invaders" and "Merkel's refugees" on the campaign trail.
Orban rails against the EU but takes its money
The harsh words bellowing from Budapest baffle many EU politicians. Hungary has consistently been one of the biggest recipients of EU development funds since it joined the bloc in 2004. Over the last decade, Brussels has pumped some €34 billion ($42 billion) into Hungary. Many ask: "Why is Orban biting the hand that feeds him?"
That hand not only feeds Orban, it also feeds many in his extended family. The EU's anti-corruption agency, OLAF, released a report in January that claimed a company belonging to Orban's son-in-law regularly received huge sums of EU development funds.
he OLAF report cited what it called "grave irregularities and conflicts of interest." As a result, Hungary could be forced to repay €43 million in EU funding.
Opposition newspapers in Hungary regularly run reports on a web of corruption in which Orban's brother and father are said to be involved. The Pester Lloyd newspaper claims that Orban is enriching himself as well, possibly through the sale of so-called golden visas, which essentially allow wealthy foreigners to attain EU residency by buying Hungarian sovereign bonds.
Read more: Is Europe doing enough to protect human rights?
In December, the European Commission once again filed suit against Hungary before the ECOJ in Luxembourg. This time it did so to challenge a Hungarian law it claims illegally limits the ability of nongovernmental organizations to work in Hungary.
The law is aimed, above all, at Hungarian-American investor and philanthropist George Soros, whom Orban has declared a personal enemy because of the billionaire's liberal politics. Orban has gone so far as to use anti-Semitic language when mentioning Soros on the campaign trail, describing a faceless, international enemy who prefers financial speculation to work.
The problem with the proposal is that any new EU budget rules must be unanimously approved. "During negotiations over the 2021-2027 budget, net contributors will have to find a way to put pressure on the troublemakers," says an EU diplomat in Brussels who wishes to remain anonymous.
Currently, the European Commission is still looking for a way to find a compromise that will also allow Orban to save face. The president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, is said to have a good relationship with Orban. The Hungarian prime minister calls Juncker the "grand duke" in reference to his Luxembourg home. In 2015, Juncker took to ribbing Orban, greeting him with the word, "dictator!" Back then, both of them were still laughing.
Read more: EU wants to hit Hungary′s Viktor Orban where it hurts: The wallet | Europe| News and current affairs from around the continent | DW | 07.04.2018
The European Commission has been observing Orban's massive push to restructure Hungary's government, justice system and media landscape since 2010. It has launched a number of so-called infringement of contract proceedings in an effort to correct Hungarian laws that violate EU law.
Orban made a number of concessions after facing the threat of an Article 7 procedure, which, according to the EU Treaty, allows Brussels to suspend certain rights of member countries. Nevertheless, Orban's relationship with the European Commission remains strained.
Read more: In Hungary election voters face choice of nightmares
The Hungarian government refuses, for instance, to implement a European Court of Justice (ECOJ) decision demanding it accept refugees. Orban often speaks of "EU dictates" and incites against an "infiltration by Islamic invaders" and "Merkel's refugees" on the campaign trail.
Orban rails against the EU but takes its money
The harsh words bellowing from Budapest baffle many EU politicians. Hungary has consistently been one of the biggest recipients of EU development funds since it joined the bloc in 2004. Over the last decade, Brussels has pumped some €34 billion ($42 billion) into Hungary. Many ask: "Why is Orban biting the hand that feeds him?"
That hand not only feeds Orban, it also feeds many in his extended family. The EU's anti-corruption agency, OLAF, released a report in January that claimed a company belonging to Orban's son-in-law regularly received huge sums of EU development funds.
he OLAF report cited what it called "grave irregularities and conflicts of interest." As a result, Hungary could be forced to repay €43 million in EU funding.
Opposition newspapers in Hungary regularly run reports on a web of corruption in which Orban's brother and father are said to be involved. The Pester Lloyd newspaper claims that Orban is enriching himself as well, possibly through the sale of so-called golden visas, which essentially allow wealthy foreigners to attain EU residency by buying Hungarian sovereign bonds.
Read more: Is Europe doing enough to protect human rights?
In December, the European Commission once again filed suit against Hungary before the ECOJ in Luxembourg. This time it did so to challenge a Hungarian law it claims illegally limits the ability of nongovernmental organizations to work in Hungary.
The law is aimed, above all, at Hungarian-American investor and philanthropist George Soros, whom Orban has declared a personal enemy because of the billionaire's liberal politics. Orban has gone so far as to use anti-Semitic language when mentioning Soros on the campaign trail, describing a faceless, international enemy who prefers financial speculation to work.
The problem with the proposal is that any new EU budget rules must be unanimously approved. "During negotiations over the 2021-2027 budget, net contributors will have to find a way to put pressure on the troublemakers," says an EU diplomat in Brussels who wishes to remain anonymous.
Currently, the European Commission is still looking for a way to find a compromise that will also allow Orban to save face. The president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, is said to have a good relationship with Orban. The Hungarian prime minister calls Juncker the "grand duke" in reference to his Luxembourg home. In 2015, Juncker took to ribbing Orban, greeting him with the word, "dictator!" Back then, both of them were still laughing.
Read more: EU wants to hit Hungary′s Viktor Orban where it hurts: The wallet | Europe| News and current affairs from around the continent | DW | 07.04.2018
2/3/17
EU leaders forced to unite in new Trump reality - by Eszter Zalan
 |
| United We Stand Divided We Fall |
Leaders emphasized the importance of the transatlantic relationship, and said they would work together with Trump on common interests, but move toward more independent European action on issues where the EU and the US administration disagree.
"We work on the basis of our shared values, [...] there are areas where we agree, like fighting international terrorism, and where we don’t agree," German chancellor Angela Merkel said after lunch, which summed up the mood toward Trump among EU leaders after a turbulent week of heavy criticism from Europe and concern over the US president's first days in office.
Merkel said that this is an opportunity for Europe to redefine itself and become more self-reliant.
"The general debate concentrated on where we stand, we have to act together," Merkel said, adding that it could lead to boosting investment in defense capabilities in the EU but also in Germany. "We have our destiny in our own hands."
Some EU leaders heavily criticised Donald Trump's decision to ban refugees and people arriving to the US from seven Muslim-majority countries.
Others, like Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban ( whose country represents the new face of corruption in Europe), slammed those who criticized Trump. Before arriving at the Valletta summit, Orban said that the US has the right to decide its own border control policy, and that he is puzzled at the "neurotic European reactions" over the travel ban.
Read more: EU leaders forced to unite in new Trump reality
11/8/16
HUNGARY:Hungarian Lawmakers Deal Blow to Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Migrant Plans - BY Margit Feher
Hungarian lawmakers on Tuesday rejected a constitutional amendment
barring future resettlement of migrants in the country by the European
Union, in a high-profile setback for outspoken Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Read more: Hungarian Lawmakers Deal Blow to Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Migrant Plans - WSJ
Read more: Hungarian Lawmakers Deal Blow to Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Migrant Plans - WSJ
6/2/16
The Law Of The Jungle: Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and the lure of the strongman - by Gideon Rachman
The rise of Donald Trump has been accompanied by predictable murmurs of “only in America”. But the Trump phenomenon is better understood as part of a global trend: the return of the “strongman” leader in international politics.
Rather than leading the way, America has arrived late at this dispiriting party. Historians might one day highlight the year 2012 as the turning point. In May of that year Vladimir Putin returned to the Kremlin as president of Russia. A few months later Xi Jinping was installed as general secretary of the Chinese Communist party.
Both Mr Putin and Mr Xi replaced uncharismatic leaders — Dmitry Medvedev and Hu Jintao — and moved swiftly to establish a new style of leadership. Compliant media were encouraged to build up a cult of personality, emphasising the strength and patriotism of the new man at the top.
The trend that began in Russia and China quickly became visible in other countries. In July 2013 there was a coup in Egypt, which resulted in the overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood and the emergence of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the former army chief, as the country’s new strongman leader. The following year Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had already served 11 years as prime minister, was elected president of Turkey.
He immediately moved to strengthen the presidency, marginalized other leading politicians and cracked down on the media.
The Erdogan phenomenon demonstrates that democracies are not immune to the lure of the strongman. Mr Erdogan is an instinctive authoritarian but he won power through elections. Narendra Modi, who was elected prime minister of India in 2014, ran a campaign based around his own strength and dynamism, promising to reverse years of drift under the mild-mannered leadership of Manmohan Singh. In Hungary, Viktor Orban, an elected prime minister, has demonstrated strong authoritarian tendencies.
This global trend is gathering pace. Last week, the Philippines elected as president a populist wild man, Rodrigo Duterte — widely known as Duterte Harry — replacing the cautious technocratic, Benigno Aquino.
And then there is Mr Trump. Americans might flinch at the idea that US politics has anything in common with the Philippines or Russia. But, in fact, Mr Trump — who looks certain to secure the Republican presidential nomination — exhibits many of the characteristics of the current crop of strongman leaders, including Messrs Putin, Xi, Erdogan, Sisi, Modi, Orban and Duterte.
All these men have promised to lead a national revival through the force of their personalities and their willingness to ignore liberal niceties. In many cases, the promise of decisive leadership is backed up by a willingness — sometimes explicit, sometimes implied — to use illegal violence against enemies of the state.
“Duterte Harry” has played up his links with vigilante gangs. Mr Putin’s use of brutal tactics in the second Chechen war was well known to Russian voters. Mr Modi’s alleged role in a 2002 massacre in his home state of Gujarat was sufficiently controversial to get him banned from the US for many years.
Mr Sisi secured his grip on power with a massacre on the streets of Cairo. And, even in the law-governed US, Mr Trump has promised to torture terrorists and murder their family members.
Strongman leadership usually goes hand-in-hand with extreme sensitivity to criticism. In both the Putin and Xi presidencies there have been crackdowns on freedom of speech. In Turkey, Mr Erdogan has sued almost 2,000 people for defamation. Mr Trump misses few opportunities to insult the media and has said that he would like to make it easier for politicians to sue the press.
Typically, strongman leaders trade on feelings of insecurity, fear and frustration. Mr Putin and Mr Erdogan have portrayed Russia and Turkey as surrounded by enemies. Mr Sisi has promised to rescue Egypt from terrorism. Mr Xi and Mr Modi have capitalised on ordinary people’s frustrations with corruption and inequality. The Trump campaign has incorporated elements of all these themes, promising to reverse national decline and get tough with criminals and foreigners.
At a time when Barack Obama, the US president, and Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, are both cautious, deliberative internationalists, the risk-taking nationalism of Mr Putin has attracted admirers in China, the Arab world and even the west.
Mr Trump and Mr Putin seem to have formed something of a mutual admiration society. Strongman leaders often get on very well — at least initially. But because their relationships are based on a shared style and swagger, rather than underlying principle, they also often fall out spectacularly.
Mr Erdogan used to have close relationships with Mr Putin and with President Bashar al-Assad of Syria but these have turned into bitter enmities. Further back in history, the 1939 pact between Hitler and Stalin gave way within two years to war between Germany and the Soviet Union.
The alarming truth is that the impact of strongman leaders is rarely confined within national borders. All too often, the undercurrent of violence that they introduce into domestic politics spills over on to the international stage.
Read more: Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and the lure of the strongman - FT.com
 |
| "Don't Forget - I am always Right." |
Both Mr Putin and Mr Xi replaced uncharismatic leaders — Dmitry Medvedev and Hu Jintao — and moved swiftly to establish a new style of leadership. Compliant media were encouraged to build up a cult of personality, emphasising the strength and patriotism of the new man at the top.
The trend that began in Russia and China quickly became visible in other countries. In July 2013 there was a coup in Egypt, which resulted in the overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood and the emergence of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the former army chief, as the country’s new strongman leader. The following year Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had already served 11 years as prime minister, was elected president of Turkey.
He immediately moved to strengthen the presidency, marginalized other leading politicians and cracked down on the media.
The Erdogan phenomenon demonstrates that democracies are not immune to the lure of the strongman. Mr Erdogan is an instinctive authoritarian but he won power through elections. Narendra Modi, who was elected prime minister of India in 2014, ran a campaign based around his own strength and dynamism, promising to reverse years of drift under the mild-mannered leadership of Manmohan Singh. In Hungary, Viktor Orban, an elected prime minister, has demonstrated strong authoritarian tendencies.
This global trend is gathering pace. Last week, the Philippines elected as president a populist wild man, Rodrigo Duterte — widely known as Duterte Harry — replacing the cautious technocratic, Benigno Aquino.
And then there is Mr Trump. Americans might flinch at the idea that US politics has anything in common with the Philippines or Russia. But, in fact, Mr Trump — who looks certain to secure the Republican presidential nomination — exhibits many of the characteristics of the current crop of strongman leaders, including Messrs Putin, Xi, Erdogan, Sisi, Modi, Orban and Duterte.
All these men have promised to lead a national revival through the force of their personalities and their willingness to ignore liberal niceties. In many cases, the promise of decisive leadership is backed up by a willingness — sometimes explicit, sometimes implied — to use illegal violence against enemies of the state.
“Duterte Harry” has played up his links with vigilante gangs. Mr Putin’s use of brutal tactics in the second Chechen war was well known to Russian voters. Mr Modi’s alleged role in a 2002 massacre in his home state of Gujarat was sufficiently controversial to get him banned from the US for many years.
Mr Sisi secured his grip on power with a massacre on the streets of Cairo. And, even in the law-governed US, Mr Trump has promised to torture terrorists and murder their family members.
Strongman leadership usually goes hand-in-hand with extreme sensitivity to criticism. In both the Putin and Xi presidencies there have been crackdowns on freedom of speech. In Turkey, Mr Erdogan has sued almost 2,000 people for defamation. Mr Trump misses few opportunities to insult the media and has said that he would like to make it easier for politicians to sue the press.
Typically, strongman leaders trade on feelings of insecurity, fear and frustration. Mr Putin and Mr Erdogan have portrayed Russia and Turkey as surrounded by enemies. Mr Sisi has promised to rescue Egypt from terrorism. Mr Xi and Mr Modi have capitalised on ordinary people’s frustrations with corruption and inequality. The Trump campaign has incorporated elements of all these themes, promising to reverse national decline and get tough with criminals and foreigners.
At a time when Barack Obama, the US president, and Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, are both cautious, deliberative internationalists, the risk-taking nationalism of Mr Putin has attracted admirers in China, the Arab world and even the west.
Mr Trump and Mr Putin seem to have formed something of a mutual admiration society. Strongman leaders often get on very well — at least initially. But because their relationships are based on a shared style and swagger, rather than underlying principle, they also often fall out spectacularly.
Mr Erdogan used to have close relationships with Mr Putin and with President Bashar al-Assad of Syria but these have turned into bitter enmities. Further back in history, the 1939 pact between Hitler and Stalin gave way within two years to war between Germany and the Soviet Union.
The alarming truth is that the impact of strongman leaders is rarely confined within national borders. All too often, the undercurrent of violence that they introduce into domestic politics spills over on to the international stage.
Read more: Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and the lure of the strongman - FT.com
4/6/14
Hungary election: PM Viktor Orban declares victory
Hungarian Prime Minister
Viktor Orban has declared victory in Sunday's parliamentary election,
winning a second consecutive term.
A centre-left opposition alliance is trailing with 25%, while the far-right Jobbik party is credited with 21%.
The Hungarian left has never fully recovered from its heavy defeat in the 2010 ballot, in which Mr Orban swept to power with a two-thirds majority.
Sunday's election has been mainly fought over the state of the economy, correspondents say.
Read more: BBC News - Hungary election: PM Viktor Orban declares victory
7/29/12
EU institutions are hindering crisis resolution, says Hungary Prime Minister
European Union (EU) officials are wasting time on toys for pigs and the mood of geese when hundreds of thousands are losing their jobs and the single currency is collapsing, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said today in a scathing attack on EU institutions.
Read more: EU institutions are hindering crisis resolution, says Hungary Prime Minister | GulfNews.com
Orban, who has often been at loggerheads with Brussels over issues like the independence of the National Bank of Hungary and the judiciary, said the 27-member bloc’s institutions were hindering crisis-hit nations’ ability to solve their problems.
Speaking in the Romanian town of Baile Tusnad at an annual students’ gathering, Orban said western Europe, where the 17-member Eurozone is mired in a debt crisis, was trapped in a vicious circle by the lack of accountability and failing institutions.
“Brussels spends precious days and weeks setting the size of hen cages. They prescribe that pigs should be given toys to play with, and the mood of geese is an important European issue,” Orban said in a nearly hour-long speech carried by Hungarian private broadcaster HirTV.
Read more: EU institutions are hindering crisis resolution, says Hungary Prime Minister | GulfNews.com
4/7/12
Censorship: Hungary Sued for Political Interference in Radio Frequency Bids
Hungary is being sued for political interference in awarding radio licenses, renewing doubts over press freedoms in the nation as the government tries to convince the European Union that it respects media independence.
The 2009 tender for the frequencies of radio stations Slager and Danubius were “scandalously flawed” and amounted to the “expropriation” of investments, according to court papers filed separately by Indianapolis, Indiana-based Emmis International Holding B.V., a unit of Emmis Communications Corporation (EMMS), and Bermuda-registered venture capital fund Accession Mezzanine Capital LP (PEF3495), which owned the stations.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who took office in 2010, has come under international criticism for setting up a media regulator exclusively led by ruling party appointees with wide-ranging powers that European Commissioner Neelie Kroes has said may spawn self-censorship. Aid talks with the EU and the International Monetary Fund have been halted over a dispute with the 27-member bloc over a series of laws passed.
For more: Hungary Sued for Political Interference in Radio Frequency Bids - Bloomberg
The 2009 tender for the frequencies of radio stations Slager and Danubius were “scandalously flawed” and amounted to the “expropriation” of investments, according to court papers filed separately by Indianapolis, Indiana-based Emmis International Holding B.V., a unit of Emmis Communications Corporation (EMMS), and Bermuda-registered venture capital fund Accession Mezzanine Capital LP (PEF3495), which owned the stations.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who took office in 2010, has come under international criticism for setting up a media regulator exclusively led by ruling party appointees with wide-ranging powers that European Commissioner Neelie Kroes has said may spawn self-censorship. Aid talks with the EU and the International Monetary Fund have been halted over a dispute with the 27-member bloc over a series of laws passed.
For more: Hungary Sued for Political Interference in Radio Frequency Bids - Bloomberg
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