Please join the East Central European Center at the Harriman Institute for a discussion with Lasse Skytt, author of Orbanland: Why Viktor Orbán’s Hungary Matters (New Europe Books, 2022). Moderated by Aleksandar Bošković and Christopher Caes, co-directors of the East Central European Center.
From Europe to America, political landscapes have shifted in recent years in a way summed up in microcosm no better than by the trajectory of one small country, Hungary—whose leader, Viktor Orbán, has gained outsized international notoriety as the bad boy of the European Union for his steadfast alternative to the liberal democracy that has dominated the Western world since 1989.
Orbánland is the fascinating story of a Danish journalist who moves to Hungary to gain an insight into the political complexities of this divisive European country. Along the way, he encounters people from all walks of life, and he learns as much about the Hungarians as about himself. In a narrative as absorbing as it is vital for the lessons it carries for a divided Western world: Can we get along with those on the other side of the fence? Is it worth even trying? His answers are surprising.
