Viktor Orbán

Viktor Orbán MP
Viktor Orbán in December 2015 during a state visit to Iran
Prime Minister of Hungary
Incumbent
Assumed office 29 May 2010
President	László Sólyom Pál Schmitt László Kövér (Acting) János Áder
Deputy	Zsolt Semjén Tibor Navracsics (2010–2014)
Preceded by	Gordon Bajnai
In office 6 July 1998 – 27 May 2002
President	Árpád Göncz Ferenc Mádl
Preceded by	Gyula Horn
Succeeded by	Péter Medgyessy
Member of the National Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office 2 May 1990
Personal details
Born	Viktor Mihály Orbán 31 May 1963 Székesfehérvár, Hungary
Political party	Fidesz
Spouse(s)	Anikó Lévai (m. 1986)
Children	Ráhel Gáspár Sára Róza Flóra
Residence	Parliament Building
Alma mater	Eötvös Loránd University (J.D.) Pembroke College, Oxford
Religion	Calvinism
Signature
Website	Official website

Viktor Orbán (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈorbaːn ˈviktor]; born 31 May 1963) is a Hungarian jurist and politician who has been Prime Minister of Hungary since 2010 and the president of the national conservative ruling party Fidesz from 1993 to 2000 and since 2003. Previously he also served as Prime Minister from 1998 to 2002.

Having earned a law degree, Orbán entered politics in the wake of the Revolutions of 1989 as a key figure of the radical student movement. He became a nationally known politician after his powerful speech at the reburial of Imre Nagy and other '56 martyrs on 16 June 1989. Following the transition to democracy in 1990, he was elected to the National Assembly for the first time and functioned as leader of his party's parliamentary caucus until 1994. Under his party leadership, Fidesz gradually transformed itself from a "radical liberal force" into a center-right people's party by 1994. Fidesz gained power at first in 1998, with electing Orbán as Prime Minister, who governed Hungary in a right-wing coalition government. During his appointment, he became the country's second youngest premier ever. Orbán narrowly lost the 2002 national election to the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP), and became Leader of the Opposition. The Fidesz lost the 2006 election too; despite two defeats in a row, Orbán was able to maintain the position of party president.

After eight years in opposition, Fidesz won two-thirds majority of seats in the 2010 parliamentary election, enough to form a government on its own with its sister party, Christian Democratic People's Party (KDNP), with Orbán as Prime Minister. At the 2014 parliamentary election, Orbán won again a landslide victory with 44.87% of the vote, forming his third government with supermajority. After a 2015 by-election, the party lost its two-thirds supermajority needed for changing the Constitution, while still retaining a simple majority.^[1]

Orbán was a vice chairman in the Liberal International from 1992 to 2000, later a Vice President in the European People's Party from 2002 to 2012. His second term as head of government was widely criticized by various institutions at several occasions, particularly during the adoption of the new constitution in 2011. Orbán often described as "strongman" of Hungary or Europe by domestic and international media.^[2] In a 2014 speech, according to the critics, Orbán interpreted his views about as an advocate of the "illiberal democracy". He stated, however, this does not reject the values of the liberal democracy, but does not adopt it as a central element of state organisation.^[3]

Background

Viktor Mihály Orbán^[4] was born on 31 May 1963 in Székesfehérvár into a rural middle-class family as the eldest son of entrepreneur and agronomist Győző Orbán (b. 1940)^[5] and special educator and speech therapist Erzsébet Sípos. He has also two younger brothers, entrepreneurs Győző, Jr. (b. 1965) and Áron (b. 1977). His paternal grandfather, Mihály Orbán, practiced farming and animal husbandry. Orbán spent his childhood in two nearby villages, Alcsútdoboz and Felcsút in Fejér County, he finished his elementary studies there and Vértesacsa. In 1977 his family moved permanently to Székesfehérvár.

In 1981, he graduated from secondary school (Blanka Teleki High School of Székesfehérvár), where he studied English. In the following two years he completed his military service, then studied law at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest. He wrote a master's thesis on the Polish Solidarity movement.^[6] After graduating in 1987, he lived in Szolnok for two years, commuting to Budapest where he had a job as a sociologist at the Management Training Institute of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food.^[7]

In 1989, Orbán received a scholarship from the Soros Foundation and spent four months in Oxford, United Kingdom, where he studied at Pembroke College.^[8] His personal tutor in politics was Zbigniew Pelczynski.^[9] In January 1990, he left Oxford and returned to Hungary to win a seat in Hungary's first post-communist parliament.

Orbán is married to jurist Anikó Lévai since 1986, who worked for the International Children's Safety Service since 1990. She also performs charitable works at the Hungarian Interchurch Aid since 1998. The couple have five children,^[10] including retired professional footballer Gáspár, who played for Ferenc Puskás Football Academy in 2014.^[11] Orbán is a Calvinist, while his wife is a Roman Catholic.^[12] He is very fond of sports, especially of football; he was a signed player of the Felcsút football team, and as a result he also appears in Football Manager 2006.^[13]

Political career

At the age of 14 and 15, he was a secretary of the communist youth organisation (KISZ) of his secondary grammar school (KISZ membership was mandatory for university admittance).^[14][15] Orbán said in a later interview, his political views radically changed during the military service, formerly he considered himself as a "naive and devoted supporter" of the Communist regime.^[16]

Early career (1988–1998)

Gábor Fodor and Viktor Orbán at the Szárszó meeting of 1993. Fodor soon quit Fidesz.

In March 1988, Orbán was one of the founding members of Fidesz (originally an acronym for Fiatal Demokraták Szövetsége, English: Alliance of Young Democrats) and served as its first spokesperson. The first members of the party, including Orbán, were mostly students from the Bibó István College for Advanced Studies, who opposed the Communist regime. In the college, Orbán edited social science journal Századvég ("End of Century") and also one of the key figures among the radical students. On 16 June 1989, Orbán gave a speech in Heroes' Square, Budapest, on the occasion of the reburial of Imre Nagy and other national martyrs of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. In his speech he demanded free elections and the withdrawal of Soviet troops. The speech brought him wide national and political acclaim. In summer 1989 he took part in the Opposition Roundtable Talks, representing Fidesz alongside László Kövér.^[17]

Viktor Orbán in 1997

Returning home from Oxford, he was elected Member of Parliament from his party's Pest County Regional List during the 1990 parliamentary election. He was appointed leader of the Fidesz's parliamentary group, serving in this capacity until the end of the parliamentary term in 1994. Meanwhile, on 18 April 1993, he became the first president of Fidesz, replacing the collective leadership called national board. Under his leadership, Fidesz gradually transformed from a radical liberal student organization to a center-right people's party.^[18] The conservative turn caused a severe split in the membership. Several members left the party, including Péter Molnár, Gábor Fodor and Zsuzsanna Szelényi. Fodor and others later joined the liberal Alliance of Free Democrats (SZDSZ), initially a strong alliance of Fidesz, but later political opponents.^[19]

During the 1994 parliamentary election, Fidesz barely jumped over the 5% threshold. Orbán became MP from his party's Fejér County Regional List. He served as chairman of the Committee on European Integration Affairs between 1994 and 1998. He was also a member of the Immunity, Incompatibility and Credentials Committee for a short time in 1995. Under his presidency, Fidesz adopted "Hungarian Civic Party" (Magyar Polgári Párt) to its shortened name in 1995. His party gradually became dominant in the right-wing of the political spectrum, while the former ruling conservative hungaria (MDF) had lost much of its support. Since April 1996, Orbán was chairman of the Hungarian national committee of the New Atlantic Initiative (NAI).

In September 1992, Orbán was elected vice chairman of the Liberal International. In November 2000, however, Fidesz left the Liberal International and joined the European People's Party. During the time, Orbán worked hard to unite the center-right parties in Hungary. At the EPP's Congress in Estoril in October 2002, he was elected Vice President, holding the office until 2012.^[20]

First premiership (1998–2002)

In 1998, Orbán formed a successful coalition with the Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF) and the Independent Smallholders, Agrarian Workers and Civic Party (FKGP) and won the 1998 parliamentary elections with 42% of the national vote.^[20] Thus, Viktor Orbán became the second youngest Prime Minister of Hungary at 35 (after András Hegedüs), serving between 1998 and 2002.^[21]

Internal affairs

The new government immediately launched a radical reform of state administration, reorganizing ministries and creating a super-ministry for the economy. In addition, the boards of the social security funds and centralized social security payments were dismissed. Following the German model, Orbán strengthened the prime minister's office and named a new minister to oversee the work of his Cabinet.^[22] In the process thousands of civil servants were replaced (no distinction is made between political and civil servant posts, resulting in a strong "winner takes all" practice). The overall direction was towards centralized control.

Viktor Orbán with Tamás Deutsch in 2000

Despite vigorous protests from the opposition parties,^[23][24][25] in February the government decided that plenary sessions of the unicameral National Assembly would be held only every third week.^[26] As a result, according to opposition arguments, parliament's legislative efficiency and ability to supervise the government were reduced.^[27] In late March, the government tried to replace the National Assembly rule that requires a two-thirds majority vote with one of a simple majority, but the Constitutional Court ruled this unconstitutional.^[28]

The year saw only minor changes in top government officials. Two of Orbán's state secretaries in the prime minister's office had to resign in May due to their implication in a bribery scandal involving the US military manufacturer Lockheed Martin Corp. Before bids on a major jet-fighter contract, the two secretaries, along with 32 other deputies of Orbán's party, had sent a letter to two US senators to lobby for the appointment of a Budapest-based Lockheed manager to be the US ambassador to Hungary.^[29] On 31 August, the head of the Tax Office also resigned, succumbing to protracted attacks by the opposition on his earlier, allegedly suspicious, business dealings. The tug-of-war between the Budapest city council and the government continued over the government's decision in late 1998 to cancel two major urban projects: the construction of a new national theatre^[30] and of the fourth subway line.

Relations between the Fidesz-led coalition government and the opposition worsened in the National Assembly, where the two seemed to have abandoned all attempts at consensus-seeking politics. The government pushed to swiftly replace the heads of key institutions (such as the Hungarian National Bank chairman, the Budapest City Chief Prosecutor and the Hungarian Radio) with partisan figures. Although the opposition resisted, for example by delaying their appointing of members of the supervising boards, the government ran the institutions without the stipulated number of directors. In a similar vein, Orbán failed to show up for question time in parliament, for periods of up to 10 months. His statements of the kind that "The parliament works without opposition too..." also contributed to the image of an arrogant and aggressive governance.^[31]

A later report in March by the Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists criticized the Hungarian government for improper political influence in the media as the country's public service broadcaster teetered close to bankruptcy.^[32]

Numerous political scandals during 2001 led to a de facto, if not actual, breakup of the coalition that held power in Budapest. A bribery scandal in February triggered a wave of allegations and several prosecutions against the Independent Smallholders' Party (FKGP). The affair resulted in the ousting of József Torgyán from both the FKGP presidency and the top post in the Ministry of Agriculture. The FKGP disintegrated and more than a dozen of its MPs joined the government faction.^[33]

Economy

Orbán's economic policy was aimed at cutting taxes and social insurance contributions over four years while reducing inflation and unemployment. Among the new government's first measures was to abolish university tuition fees and reintroduce universal maternity benefits. The government announced its intention to continue the Socialist-Liberal stabilization program and pledged to narrow the budget deficit, which had grown to 4.5% of GDP.^[34] The previous Cabinet had almost completed the privatization of government-run industries and had launched a comprehensive pension reform. However, the Socialists had avoided two major socioeconomic issues – reform of health care and agriculture, these remained to be tackled by Orbán's government.

Economic successes included a drop in inflation from 15% in 1998 to 10.0% in 1999, 9.8% in 2000 and 7.8% in 2001. GDP growth rates were fairly steady: 4.4% in 1999, 5.2% in 2000, and 3.8% in 2001. The fiscal deficit fell from 3.9% in 1999, to 3.5% in 2000 and 3.4% in 2001 and the ratio of the national debt decreased to 54% of GDP.^[34] Under the Orbán cabinet there were realistic hopes that Hungary would be able to join the Eurozone by 2009. However, negotiations for entry into the European Union slowed in the fall of 1999 after the EU included six more countries (in addition to the original six) in the accession discussions. Orbán repeatedly criticized the EU for its delay. As of Q1 2012, Hungary still did not meet the criteria for joining the Eurozone.

Mikuláš Dzurinda, Viktor Orbán and Günter Verheugen open the Mária Valéria Bridge across the Danube connecting the Slovak town of Štúrovo with Esztergom in Hungary.

Orbán also came under criticism for pushing through an unprecedented two-year budget and for failing to curb inflation, which only dropped a half point, from 10% in 1999 to 9.5% in 2000, despite the tight monetary policy of the Central Bank. However, investments continued to grow.^[35]

Foreign policy

In March 1999, after Russian objections were overruled, Hungary joined NATO along with Czech Republic and Poland.^[36] This ended Hungarian efforts to gain security in post-communist Europe. The Hungarian membership to NATO demanded its involvement in Yugoslavia's Kosovo crisis and modernization of its army. NATO membership also gave a blow to the economy because of a trade embargo imposed on Yugoslavia.^[37]

Hungary attracted international media attention in 1999 for passing the "status law" concerning estimated three-million ethnic Hungarian minorities in neighbouring Romania, Slovakia, Serbia and Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia and Ukraine. The law aimed to provide education, health benefits and employment rights to those, and was said to heal the negative effects of the disastrous 1920 Trianon Treaty. Governments in neighbouring states, particularly Romania, claimed to be insulted by the law, which they saw as an interference in their domestic affairs. The proponents of the status law countered that several of the countries criticizing the law themselves have similar constructs to provide benefits for their own minorities. Romania acquiesced after amendments following a December 2001 agreement between Orbán and Romanian prime minister Adrian Năstase;^[38] Slovakia accepted the law after further concessions made by the new government after the 2002 elections.^[39]

Orbán with George W. Bush in the White House (2001).

2002 parliamentary election

The level of public support for political parties generally stagnated, even with general elections coming in 2002. Fidesz and the main opposition Hungarian Socialist Party ran neck and neck in the opinion polls for most of the year, both attracting about 26% of the electorate. According to a September 2001 poll by the Gallup organization, however, support for a joint Fidesz – Hungarian Democratic Forum party list would run up to 33% of the voters, with the Socialists drawing 28% and other opposition parties 3% each.^[40] Meanwhile, public support for the FKGP plunged from 14% in 1998 to 1% in 2001. As many as 40% of the voters remained undecided, however. Although the Socialists had picked their candidate for prime minister — former finance minister Péter Medgyessy — the opposition largely remained unable to increase its political support.

The dark horse of the election was the radical nationalist Hungarian Justice and Life Party (MIÉP), with its leader István Csurka's radical rhetoric. MIÉP could not be ruled out as the key to a new term for Orbán and his party, should they be forced into a coalition after the 2002 elections.

The elections of 2002 were the most heated Hungary had experienced in more than a decade, and an unprecedented cultural-political division formed in the country. In the event, Viktor Orbán's group lost the April parliamentary elections to the opposition Hungarian Socialist Party, which set up a coalition with its longtime ally, the liberal Alliance of Free Democrats. Turnout was a record-high 73.5%.

Beyond these parties, only deputies of the Hungarian Democratic Forum made it into the National Assembly. The populist Independent Smallholders' Party and the right Hungarian Justice and Life Party (MIÉP) lost all their seats. Thus, the number of political parties in the new assembly was reduced from six to four.

MIÉP challenged the government's legitimacy, demanded a recount, complained of election fraud, and generally kept the country in election mode until the October municipal elections. The socialist-controlled Central Elections Committee ruled that a recount was unnecessary, a position supported by observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, whose only substantive criticism of the election conduct was that the state television carried a consistent bias in favour of Fidesz.^[41]

In opposition (2002–2010)

Orbán received the Freedom Award of the American Enterprise Institute and the New Atlantic Initiative (2001), the Polak Award (2001), the Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit (2001), the "Förderpreis Soziale Marktwirtschaft" (Price for the Social Market Economy, 2002) and the Mérite Européen prize (2004). In April 2004, he receoved the Papal Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Gregory the Great.

In the 2004 European Parliament election, the ruling Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) was heavily defeated by the opposition conservative Fidesz. Fidesz gained 47.4% of the vote and 12 of Hungary's 24 seats.

Orbán and Hans-Gert Pöttering in 2006.

Some consider the election of Dr. László Sólyom as the President of Hungary to be the supernumerary fulcrum of the party. Sólyom was endorsed by Védegylet, an NGO consisting of people from the whole political spectrum. Sólyom's activity does not entirely overlap with the conservative ideals, and he championed elements of both political wings with a selective and conscious choice of values.^[42]

Orbán and Romanian President Traian Băsescu in 2008.

Orbán was the Fidesz candidate for the parliamentary election in 2006. Fidesz and its new-old candidate failed again to gain a majority in this election, which initially put Orbán's future political career as the leader of Fidesz in question.^[43] However, on fighting with socialist-liberal coalition, Orbán's position has been solidified again, and he was elected president of Fidesz yet again for another term in May 2007.^[44]

On 17 September 2006, an audio recording surfaced from a closed-door Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) meeting which was held on 26 May 2006, in which Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány made a speech, notable for its obscene language. On 1 November, Orbán and his party announced their plans to stage several large-scale demonstrations across Hungary on the anniversary of the Soviet suppression of the 1956 Revolution. The events were intended to serve as a memorial to the victims of the Soviet invasion and a protest against police brutality during the 23 October unrest in Budapest. Planned events included a candlelight vigil march across Budapest. However, the demonstrations were small and petered out by the end of the year.^[45] A new round of demonstrations expected in the spring of 2007 did not materialize.

On 1 October 2006, Fidesz won the municipal elections, which counterbalanced the MSZP-led government's power to some extent. Fidesz won 15 of 23 mayoralties in Hungary's largest cities—although it narrowly lost Budapest to the Liberal Party—and majorities in 18 of 20 regional assemblies.^[46][47]

A referendum on revoking government reforms which introduced doctor fees per visit and medical fees paid per number of days spent in hospital as well, as tuition fees in higher education, took place in Hungary on 9 March 2008. Hungarians usually call this popular vote the social referendum. The referendum was initiated by opposition party Fidesz against the ruling MSZP. The procedure for the referendum started on 23 October 2006, when Orbán announced they would hand in seven questions to the National Electorate Office, three of which (on abolishing co-payments, daily fees and college tuition fees) were officially approved on 17 December 2007 and called on 24 January 2008. It was assumed likely that the referendum will pass, but it is uncertain whether turnout will be high enough to make it valid;^[48] polls indicated about 40% turnout with 80% in favour of rescinding the three reforms.^[49]

In the 2009 European Parliament election, Fidesz won by a large margin, garnering 56.36% of votes and 14 of Hungary's 22 seats.^[50]

Second premiership (2010– )

Press conference following the meeting of leaders of Visegrád Group, Germany and France, 6 March 2013

During the April 2010 parliamentary elections Orbán's party won 52.73% of the popular vote, with a two-thirds majority of seats, which gave Orbán enough authority to change the Constitution.^[51] As a result, Orbán's government added an article in support of traditional marriage in the constitution, and a controversial electoral reform which lowered the number of seats in the Parliament of Hungary from 386 to 199.^[52]

In his second term as Prime Minister, he garnered controversy for his statements against liberal democracy for proposing an "internet tax" and for his perceived corruption.^[53] His second premiership has seen numerous protests against his government, including one in Budapest in November 2014 against the proposed "internet tax."^[54]

In terms of domestic legislation, Orbán's government implemented a flat tax on personal income. This tax is set at 16%.^[55] Orbán has called his government "pragmatic", citing restrictions on early retirement in the police force and military, making welfare more transparent, and a central banking law that "gives Hungary more independence from the European Central Bank." ^[56]

After the 2014 parliamentary election, Fidesz won a majority, garnering 133 of the 199 seats in the National Assembly.^[57] While he won a large majority, he garnered 44.54% of the national vote, down from 52.73% in 2010.

During the 2015 European migrant crisis, Orbán ordered the erection of the Hungary-Serbia barrier to block entry of illegal immigrants^[58] so that Hungary could register all the migrants arriving from Serbia, which is the country's responsibility under the Dublin Regulation, a European Union law.

Orbán questioned Nord Stream II, a new Russia-Germany natural gas pipeline. He said he wants to hear a "reasonable argument why South Stream was bad and Nord Stream is not".^[59] "South Stream" refers to the Balkan pipeline cancelled by Russia in December 2014 after obstacles from the EU.

Controversy

"Hungarians won’t live according to the commands of foreign powers", Orbán told the crowd at Kossuth square, 15 March 2012

Orbán has been publicly criticised for pursuing anti-democratic reforms in Hungary from both domestic and foreign leaders, inter-governmental organisations, non-government organisations, and press. Specifically, Orban has been criticised for reducing the independence of Hungary’s press, judiciary and central bank, for amending Hungary’s constitution to prevent amendments to the current government’s legislation, and for cronyism and nepotism.^[60][61]. More prominent examples of this criticism include open letters from the then Secretary of State of the United States of America Hillary Clinton^[62], and then President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso^[63].

Orbán has been described in the media as right-wing and populist.^[64][65][66] In January 2007, The Economist criticised what it calls his "cynical populism and mystifyingly authoritarian socialist-style policies".^[67]

In 2000, responding to a question about accession to the EU, Orbán answered "... there's life outside the EU. But ... [w]e're trying to make the accession fast because it may boost the growth of Hungary's economy". In response opposition parties MSZP and SZDSZ and their media called Orbán an anti-European politician who supports the radical right-wing's opinion.^[68]

In 2006, during an international conference, Orbán stated that the European Union should not give any moral help to the Hungarian MSZP-SZDSZ government due to their "lies and cheats" (reflecting to Ferenc Gyurcsány's speech in Balatonőszöd in May 2006). Many government politicians said Orbán attacked his own country and called him a traitor of his homeland. Orbán denied he was talking about money in his speech. He answered: "If, after all, you still stick to it I mention that the European Union does not provide any kind of aid for Hungary, you are misunderstanding the situation. That European Union funding is not an aid, that was the Comecon, my dear Communist friends, the Comecon, it was even called that way: Council of Providing Aid. This is not that, this is the European Union, where we have rights and we are exercising our rights within the European Union. This money is due to us, do you understand? We did not receive it as a support or aid, we have a right to it".^[69]

José Manuel Barroso, Stavros Lambrinidis, and Orbán in January 2011

In 2007, Orbán's party was accused of communism and following the footsteps of communist dictator János Kádár. A YouTube video listed various Fidesz politicians who were formerly members of the communist dictatorship's party MSZMP. This event re-erupted in 2012 when Orbán's government put into the Hungarian Constitution that MSZMP was a criminal organisation and listed their crimes against the Hungarian people - which was the first time since the fall of communism these were stated in law. The charge in both cases came from the left-wing MSZP who claim themselves the legal heir of MSZMP and inherited MSZMP's party fortune.^[70][71]

In April of 2001 Magyar Hírlap published a letter by a reader that stated, "the killing of Orbán would do good to our nation". Also that month on TV channel RTL Klub, reporter Tamás Frei^[72] interviewed an alleged Russian hitman, asking him for how much money he would kill the Hungarian prime minister (then Orbán). Right-wingers thought it was a provocative question. Later it turned out that the interviewed person was not a real hitman, but an actor paid by Frei.^[73] After this scandal, RTL Klub apologised to Orbán, and the Luxembourgian owners of the channel began an inquiry. Frei subsequently lost his job.

Football

Orbán has played football from his early childhood. He was a professional player of Felcsút FC. After finishing his football career, he became the main financiers of the Hungarian football and his hometown's club Felcsút FC, later renamed, Puskás Akadémia FC.^[74] He had a prominent role in the foundation of Ferenc Puskás Football Academy in Felcsút creating one of the most modern training facilities for young Hungarian footballers.^[75] He also played an important role in establishing the annually organised international youth cup, Puskás Cup at Pancho Arena, in Felcsút. His only son, Gáspár Orbán learns and trains here.^[76] FIFA president Sepp Blatter visited the facilities at the Puskás Academy in 2009. Blatter, together with the widow of Ferenc Puskás, as well as the founder of the Academy, Viktor Orbán, announced the creation of the new FIFA Puskás Award during that visit.^[77] He played the bit part of a footballer in the Hungarian family film Szegény Dzsoni és Árnika (1983).^[78]

Books published in Hungarian

• Hollós, János – Kondor, Katalin: Szerda reggel – Rádiós beszélgetések Orbán Viktor miniszterelnökkel, 1998. szeptember – 2000. december, ISBN 963-933-732-3
• Hollós, János – Kondor, Katalin: Szerda reggel – Rádiós beszélgetések Orbán Viktor miniszterelnökkel, 2001–2002, ISBN 963-933-761-7
• A történelem főutcáján – Magyarország 1998–2002, Orbán Viktor miniszterelnök beszédei és beszédrészletei, Magyar Egyetemi Kiadó, ISBN 963-863-831-1
• 20 év – Beszédek, írások, interjúk, 1986–2006, Heti Válasz Kiadó, ISBN 963-946-122-9
• Egy az ország. Helikon Könyvkiadó, Budapest, 2007. (translated into Polish as Ojczyzna jest jedna in 2009)^[79]
• Rengéshullámok. Helikon Könyvkiadó, Budapest, 2010.^[80]

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Bibliography

• Bell, Imogen (2003). Central and South-Eastern Europe 2004. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-85743186-5.
• Martens, Wilfried (2009). Europe: I Struggle, I Overcome. Springer. ISBN 978-354089288-5.

External links

• Official site
• News from the BBC (2002)
• Hungarian PM puts football first – BBC