Trump, Orbán, and Tainted Democracy with Zsuzsanna Szelényi

In this episode, the conversation explores the potential impact of Donald Trump’s presidency on Europe, the security challenges facing the EU, and the rise of illiberal democracy. Zsuzsanna Szelényi provides insight into the ideological shifts within Europe, the increasing influence of populist leaders like Viktor Orbán, and the structural weaknesses in the European Union’s response to democratic backsliding. She discusses how Trump’s unpredictability has prompted European leaders to rethink their security and defense strategies, yet divisions in threat perception among EU countries remain a challenge.

Zsuzsanna Szelényi is a Hungarian politician, democracy expert, and director of the CEU Democracy Institute Leadership Academy. She was a founding member of Fidesz but later distanced herself from Viktor Orbán’s politics. She worked for the Council of Europe for 15 years, advising governments on conflict resolution and democratic governance. In 2014, she returned to Hungarian politics as an opposition MP. Her book, Tainted Democracy (2022), examines Orbán’s consolidation of power and the erosion of democratic institutions in Hungary. Szelényi was also a 2018/19 Europe's Futures Fellow of the IWM and ERSTE Foundation.