but is he a democrat or has he subverted democracy and undermined the cause of freedom notjust in hungary, but across the eu? well, my guest, zsuzsanna szelenyi, was his ally in the early days of the fidesz party. now she is an arch critic. but has orban found a politicalformula illiberal democracy for which his opponents have no answer? zsuzsanna szelenyi, welcome to hardtalk. thank you for inviting me. it s a pleasure to have you on the show. when you look at your home country, hungary, today, in terms of its politics, its political culture, what do you see? well, hungary is in trouble. this is what i see first. it is diverting for a track where we entered 30 years ago, the western way of life. the generation of politicians which are characterised by fidesz, viktor orban s party, where i started my political career 32 years ago, we thought we are the party of the west. actually, orban, even 15 years ago, mentioned in a speech that fidesz party is the new western gener
had simply drifted off course. sally is here next. now on bbc news, it s time for hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i m stephen sackur. viktor 0rban can make a strong claim to be europe s most successful leader. after four consecutive election victories, he s admired by cultural conservatives and nationalists from moscow to washington. he wins elections, yes but is he a democrat or has he subverted democracy and undermined the cause of freedom notjust in hungary, but across the eu? well, my guest, zsuzsanna szelenyi, was his ally in the early days of the fidesz party. now she is an arch critic. but has 0rban found a politicalformula illiberal democracy for which his opponents have no answer? zsuzsanna szelenyi, welcome to hardtalk. thank you for inviting me. it s a pleasure to have you on the show. when you look at your home country, hungary, today, in terms of its politics, its political culture, what do you see? well, hungary is in trouble. this is what i see first. it
of freedom notjust in hungary, but across the eu? well, my guest, zsuzsanna szelenyi, was his ally in the early days of the fidesz party. now she is an arch critic. but has orban found a politicalformula illiberal democracy for which his opponents have no answer? zsuzsanna szelenyi, welcome to hardtalk. thank you for inviting me. it s a pleasure to have you on the show. when you look at your home country, hungary, today, in terms of its politics, its political culture, what do you see? well, hungary is in trouble. this is what i see first. it is diverting for a track where we entered 30 years ago, the western way of life. the generation of politicians which are characterised by fidesz, viktor orban s party, where i started my political career 32 years ago, we thought we are the party of the west. actually, orban, even 15 years ago, mentioned in a speech that fidesz party is the new western generation, and what we see today is everything but that. so that, of course, mak
live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it s newsday. republicans have criticised president biden over the amount of time it took to shoot down a chinese observation balloon that flew across the united states. china has said shooting down the balloon was an obvious over reaction. the diplomatic fall out is continuing, as warships try to recover the debris. secretary of state antony blinken was due to be in beijing this week, but he postponed the trip after the balloon was discovered. barbara plett usher reports from beijing. for days, this solitary object floated serenely through us airspace, putting a diplomatic crisis onto television screens in real time. was it a harmless weather balloon, as the chinese claimed, or a spy in the sky? moments after it arrived over the atlantic, the us brought an explosive end to the drama. that trail of white vapour you see on the left of the screen is an american fighterjet heading for the balloon. the second vapour trail is fr
from mr reznikov who hasn t been personally implicated in the procurement scandal involving the purchase of rations at inflated prices. now on bbc news, hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i m stephen sackur. viktor orban can make a strong claim to be europe s most successful leader. after four consecutive election victories, he s admired by cultural conservatives and nationalists from moscow to washington. he wins elections, yes but is he a democrat or has he subverted democracy and undermined the cause of freedom notjust in hungary, but across the eu? well, my guest, zsuzsanna szelenyi, was his ally in the early days of the fidesz party. now she is an arch critic. but has orban found a politicalformula illiberal democracy for which his opponents have no answer? zsuzsanna szelenyi, welcome to hardtalk. thank you for inviting me. it s a pleasure to have you on the show. when you look at your home country, hungary, today, in terms of its politics, its political culture, wha