From Freedom Fighter to EU Maverick: The Unchanging Viktor Orbán?
Introduction: The Two Faces of Viktor Orbán
Few European leaders have undergone a more dramatic transformation in the court of Western public opinion than Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Before 2010, he was widely celebrated by mainstream Western media as a champion of liberty, a youthful leader who bravely stood against Soviet tyranny. A little over a decade later, that image has been replaced by a litany of condemnations: he is the “right-wing populist,” the “authoritarian,” the “Putin-ist” threatening the very foundations of the European project.
