• Coalition of the Unwilling

    Screenshot: Twitter.

    Viktor Orbán uses Twitter to tackle Hungary’s energy crisis. This is the only logical explanation as to why he joined the platform a week ago, why he communicates entirely in English and why he was looking for his friend Donald Trump with a confused Travolta meme. He wants to win an international audience for his cause.

    The Hungarian prime minister is trying to maintain his popularity with cheap petrol, which he can only finance because Russian oil coming by pipeline is much cheaper than sea freight. Orban has built his economic success so far on Russian energy imports.

    The country’s budget cannot pay for the much needed transition away from Putin’s companies. That’s why he must seize every opportunity and use every platform to lobby against sanctions, which he sees as the root of all his problems. His dependence makes him more aggressive than ever.

    This article is part of the "How the energy crisis fuels the far right" edition
    1
    Taking their country back. This time. Maybe.
    2
    Europe's next far-right prime minister?
    3
    Coalition of the Unwilling
    4
    No ideological fuel needed
    5
    Number of the week: 10.4 billion