Profile - Viktor Orbán
Viktor Orbán has been a powerful force in Hungarian politics for nearly 40 years, spending 20 of them as Prime Minister. This weekend he’s trying to win a sixth term in the top job, as voters go to the polls in parliamentary elections.
The story of his political career is entwined with the story of Hungarian democracy; at the end of the Cold War, a young Orbán emerged as both canny operator and gifted orator in the anti-Communist youth movement, Fidesz, steering it through splits and ideological shifts into government, first between 1998 and 2002, and then again from 2010 to today.
As a pursuer of self-described ‘illiberal democracy’ who casts the EU as his constant adversary, Orbán has become an icon for the global hard right and, to his critics, a borderline autocrat and populist.
Presenter Stephen Smith speaks to those who know him well to understand the personal side of this very political beast.
Guests:
Esther Pataki - former Press Secretary to Viktor Orban
David Campanale - Liberal Democrat activist, journalist and fellow of the Danube Institute
Zsuzsanna Szelényi - founding Fidesz member and author of Tainted Democracy:Viktor Orbán and the Subversion of Hungary
Nick Thorpe - BBC Budapest correspondent
Presenter: Stephen Smith
Producers: Ben Crighton, Nathan Gower
Editor: Richard Vadon
Programme Coordinator: Janet Staples
Sound Engineer: Neil Churchill
Published on Saturday, 11th April 2026.
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