In 2014, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán famously pronounced Hungary “ an illiberal state, a non-liberal state ,” contrasting it with liberal democracies and deeming repressive governments including those of China, Russia, and Turkey as models of international success.

Throughout his Fidesz party’s 16-year administration, Orbán worked to concentrate power in a state under his leadership. He pushed through constitutional and legal changes that allowed the party to consolidate control over democratic institutions and passed measures that hampered the operations of opposition groups, journalists, universities, and nongovernmental organizations.…