
Viktor Orban, the EU leader who can't quit Putin, faces a united front in Hungary's election
CNN
Six weeks ago, Hungary's election campaign looked and sounded very different.
The stakes were already high. Viktor Orban, the longest-serving national leader in the European Union, was seeking to extend his authoritarian premiership deep into its second decade. His rival, leading a united front of opposition parties, bluntly denounced Orban's crusade against independent institutions and the rule of law.
But the political focus was resolutely domestic. When foreign policy took center stage, it was usually raised by Orban to tout his international credentials -- such as on February 1, when he boasted of his political longevity while in Moscow, a few feet from his staunch ally President Vladimir Putin.
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