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
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
We thought that democracy can be born only from the bottom, and not from the top. we believed in the control of any power and in rule of law. and also, we had a historic awareness, because hungary had a history of very divisive parties during the 20th century. and most of the time, this led the country into historic trouble. but on reflection, do you think you got orban wrong or do you think orban fundamentally changed? well, definitely changed. i mean, i think i am like i was. i still believe in liberal democracy and that hungary is a western country. fidesz party, under the leadership of viktor orban, started to change significantly from 1993. basically, orban, when he was elected as party president it was in 93 he pulled the party to the right.