Viktor Orban tips hat to Russia and plays down China ties at CPAC

Addressing the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas on Thursday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban sought to rally American conservatives in his defense.

The crowd gave Orban the welcome he might have expected. After all, the prime minister was recently reelected with a massive parliamentary majority. This reflects a popularity that Western critics too often exaggerate as the product of domestic repression. The truth is that Orban’s policies on immigration and LGBT issues are broadly supported by most Hungarians. And while the European Union has raised legitimate concerns over the rule of law in Hungary, the EU remains a hypocritical and largely undemocratic institution divorced from those it supposedly serves.