Realist Foreign Policy and National Interest in Hungary

This week Mark Leonard is joined by Balázs Orbán, Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán’s (no relation) political director since 2021. He is also chairman of the board at the Mathias Corvinus Collegium. Previously, Balázs was minister of state in the prime minister’s office and director general of the Migration Research Institute in Budapest. 

Together, Mark and Balázs explore the latter’s intellectual journey that resulted in his inclusion in Orbán's cabinet. They also discuss how the national conservative movement developed in Europe and Hungary, where Orbán’s party Fidesz was at the forefront of the “new right”. 

What are the key concepts underpinning Hungary’s national conservatism? Has the right-wing movement in Europe developed in Hungary’s image? Will the European Parliament’s Patriots for Europe group become mainstream in EU politics? And how is this “new politics” restructuring power in Europe?  

This podcast was recorded on September 2nd 2025. 

Bookshelf: 

Regime Change: Towards a Postliberal Future by Patrick Deneen 

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