Democracy Digest: Orban Acts Like Putin ‘Mini-Me’; Czech-Poland Turow Deal

Orban and Putin used to meet once a year before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and this was their 12th reunion, but probably the longest, which at five hours is an unusually lengthy discussion in diplomatic terms, indicating perhaps sharp disagreements behind the scenes.

One of those is surely the long delay in the Russian-designed and financed Paks 2 nuclear power plant, which was originally planned to be operational by 2026, but still lacks some key licenses. Experts are now wondering whether Orban might be trying to find a way out of the deal, especially given the parlous state of the Hungarian budget and the 10-billion-euro Russian credit - even if the principal only has to start being repaid after 2031 - would represent a significant burden for the Orban government if re-elected on April 3.

Orban also asked Putin for an extra 1 billion cubic metres (cm) of natural gas from Gazprom, on top of the already-agreed 4.5 billion cm negotiated last year as part of Hungary's long-term gas contract. The price of the gas supplies was not revealed, but experts ruled out that Hungary would be able to purchase it at one-fifth of the European average price, mentioned in passing by the Russian president. "Putin could have mistaken Hungary with Belarus," energy expert Andras Deak said at a panel discussion organized by Hungarian think tank Political Capital the day after the summit meeting.

Orban also received a surprise gift from Putin: a $2 billion credit line to build a freight rail line - similar to the Chinese financed Belgrade-Budapest railway - from the Hungarian-Ukrainian border to the Western Hungarian city of Gyor.

But the main theme picked up international observers was that Orban stood idly by while Putin lashed out against NATO, calling...