Will Dictator Orban fall?

About this episode

Nick Cohen discusses the potential fall of Viktor Orbán with Hungarian author Zsuzsanna Szelényi ahead of the upcoming elections.

Is this the end for Viktor Orbán - the Godfather of European authoritarianism? Nick Cohen talks to Hugarian author, journalist and politician Zsuzsanna Szelényi about the the upcoming Hungarian election on April 12th, where Viktor Orbán's Fidesz party faces a significant challenge from the opposition Tizsa party led by Péter Magyar. Could this - at last - be the end for the role model for Donald Trump and the rest of the authoritarian right? Over the last 16 years, Orbán has shown the radical right how to eat out a democracy and fashion an authoritarian state from what remains. He's created a game plan for the AfD, Reform UK and the Rassemblement National to follow to take and hold power through the manipulation of think tanks, corruption, state capture of institutions and the media and electoral manipulation. Trump has proved to be an avid student of Orbán''s methods Zsuzsanna Szelényi, a former Hungarian politician and author of "Tainted Democracy," explains how Orbán transformed from a liberal politician in the 1990s to an authoritarian leader who controls the media, civil service, and state resources through corruption and conspiracy theories. Nick's and Zsuzsanna's…

People in this episode

Host: Nick Cohen

Guest: Zsuzsanna Szelényi

Topics covered

• Hungarian politics
• authoritarianism
• Viktor Orbán
• elections
• disinformation
• media control

Keywords

• Viktor Orbán
• Hungarian election
• authoritarianism
• Zsuzsanna Szelényi
• Fidesz
• Tizsa
• disinformation
• media control

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Fidesz, Tizsa, AfD, Reform UK, Rassemblement National

Places: Hungary, Ukraine

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