Hungary’s authoritarian leader and longtime Russian ally, Viktor Orban, has declared victory in the country’s parliamentary elections, clinching a fourth consecutive term in power.
Orban’s Fidesz party had a commanding lead with 71% of the votes counted, Hungary’s national elections board said on Sunday evening.
The election campaign was dominated by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, which put Orban’s lengthy association with Russian President Vladimir Putin under scrutiny. In his victory speech, Orban called Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky one of the “opponents” he had to overcome during the campaign.
Orban’s comments are not surprising. He is an ally of Vladimir Putin and has refused to condemn the Russian leader’s invasion of Ukraine. What is perhaps more interesting is the way many American opponents of liberalism are happy about Orban’s victory. Expect this to be a major theme of Tucker Carlson’s Fox News program this week.
American Conservative writer Rod Dreher recently wrote in defense of Orban. He was happy with yesterday’s election results:
Notre Dame political scientist Patrick Deneen also seems happy about the Orban victory:
Here is the pro-Orban John O’ Sullivan of National Review: