Central & Eastern Europe Archive

In the current global battle between liberal democracy and autocracy, few countries have seen democracy lose ground more steadily than Hungary. It is there that hopes for the unstoppable expansion of democracy in the aftermath of the Cold War have been most decisively dashed by the rise of Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his populist party, Fidesz. They have declared open war on a Western-style, democratic society, which is why the world will be watching when Hungarians go to the polls this Sunday. Ever since their surprise victory in 2010, Orban and his acolytes have engaged in an aggressive campaign […]

Could Sunday’s general election in Hungary bring a shocking end to divisive Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s rule, reshaping politics in Central Europe? However unlikely, that scenario no longer looks entirely impossible. Orban has previously appeared unstoppable as he set about building what he calls an “illiberal state.” His government, facing increasing criticism over corruption, is accused of overseeing the destruction of independent institutions while peddling xenophobia and dog-whistle anti-Semitism. Yet for many inside and outside Hungary, Orban’s unyielding positions—against immigration and alleged “interference” in national affairs by unelected bodies, whether the European Union or international organizations—have made him a standard-bearer […]

On April 15, Montenegrins will go to the polls to elect a new president, but the likely winner will not be a new face. The country’s governing Democratic Party of Socialists, or DPS, nominated Milo Djukanovic, who has governed Montenegro as president or prime minister for much of the past three decades and oversaw the tiny Balkan state’s path to accession to NATO last year. Djukanovic, who retired as prime minister in late 2016, is seen as the leading promoter of Montenegro’s ambitions to join the European Union and position itself closer to Brussels and Washington. But pro-Russian forces in […]