60 – This is the number of days the Hungarian leader spent abroad last year. The British newspaper The Guardian conducted the calculation based on what was published on social media. China, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Turkmenistan, Qatar, Turkey – Orbán's travel destinations include many countries that have little in common with liberal democracy.
This is partly because EU leaders are boycotting a politician who has for more than a decade been building an increasingly authoritarian regime in the middle of the EU, is blocking European aid to Hungary, and does not want Sweden to join NATO. In the company of Vladimir Putin or Xi Jinping, he feels like a star. He can rely on financial support due to which he will not have to settle his accounts. It is also assumed that this choice of partners stems from Orbán's belief that the future belongs to the countries of Latin America or Asia, not Europe.
All guests of Viktor Orbán
But also in Budapest, the Hungarian Prime Minister willingly receives envoys from Kyrgyzstan, Tanzania, Jordan, China and Turkey. As the Guardian confirms, he does not even hesitate to invite people who are being tried under international sanctions, such as Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, or the Russian president of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov.
When he meets with envoys from Western Europe, they are usually from the far right. His guests last year included National Rally leader Marine Le Pen, Italian Prime Minister and leader of the far-right Brotherhood of Italy party, Giorgia Meloni, post-Franco party leader Santiago Abascal, and Herbert Kickl, leader of the Muslim Brotherhood party. The far-right Freedom Party.
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