Despite ongoing and increasing global concern that democracy is declining in Hungary, some prominent voices on the right, including in the media, are trying to make the case that Hungary is a thriving and free country. (For example, Tucker Carlson recently traveled to Hungary and returned impressed.) These pundits point to Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s strong defense of Hungary’s borders and its cultural and religious traditions against the forces of migration and woke liberalism as a model for America. But in reality, Prime Minister Orban's behavior is nothing less than creeping authoritarianism.
The Mercatus Center and the American Enterprise Institute are hosting a panel of four experts, including two Hungarians currently living in Hungary under Prime Minister Orban, to examine the truth. Moderated by Mercatus Center Visiting Fellow, Shikha Dalmia, they will discuss how Prime Minister Orban’s 11-year reign has affected economic and religious life in the country as well as his impact on civil society, press freedoms and institutional checks on executive power.