Advisor & Ally Of PM Orban Quits Over Controversial Speech

PM Viktor Orban's longest-standing political advisor Zsuzsa Hegedüs has submitted her resignation as the prime minister's representative responsible for social inclusion following a controversial speech from Orban over the weekend at the Bálványosi Summer Free University and Student Camp in Tusnádfürdő.

• During the speech, Orban criticised the 'mixing' of Europeans and non-Europeans, drawing fire from the domestic opposition and politicians abroad.
• Hegedüs wrote to Orban, "I don't know how you didn't notice that you were turning your earlier anti-migrant and anti-Europeanism into a pure Nazi speech worthy of Goebbels". Orban and Hegedüs have worked together for over 20 years.
• It remains to be seen whether Orban faces a significant backlash from other EU leaders for the speech, many of whom have called out the Hungarian gov't for alleged breaches of EU standards on rule of law, as well as perceptions that Budapest remains a major obstacle to imposing stricter sanctions on Russia.
• Domestically the incident is unlikely to result in much difficulty for the gov't, with Orban having built a large and devoted support base on the foundations of his so-called 'illiberal democratic' style of leadership. Orban's populist Fidesz party retains a two-third supermajority in the National Assembly, allowing the gov't to amend the country's constitution.