The house that Viktor built

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary

4.3 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 29 March 2022

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orban, is running for a fourth consecutive term. The election is on 3 April. But now it is taking place against the background of a war on Hungary’s border, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Mr Orban is proud of the personal relationship he has established with Vladimir Putin, and proud of what he calls the “Hungarian Model”, whereby Hungary has membership of Nato and the EU on the one hand and strong political and economic relations with Russia on the other. Russia, for example, fulfils the vast majority of Hungary’s gas needs. Nick Thorpe, who has lived in Hungary since the 1980s, asks if the edifice that Mr Orban has carefully constructed over the last 12 years is now threatened by the war in Ukraine.

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm standing outside the refugee reception centre in Berek Shoran, a small village close
0:09.4	to Hungary's border with Ukraine.
0:12.6	You're listening to the BBC World Service with me, Nikhthorpe.
0:16.4	This is the house that Victor built.
0:21.6	Since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine at the end of February, tens of thousands
0:26.1	of people have fled across the border into Hungary.
0:29.9	Hungary has made them welcome.
0:32.2	I think it's really nice.
0:33.7	It's really nice here.
0:35.1	There's a lot of food.
0:36.6	People help, there's doctors, and the people here are really nice and kind.
0:42.0	Just looking here, the food supplied, the hot drinks, the accommodation for people that
0:47.4	want to or need a place to stay who have nowhere to go.
0:51.3	We eat for our passengers, are living from Ukraine, but a special train departs for
0:57.5	the festival.
0:58.5	The train is available for the solidarity ticket, thank you for your cooperation.
1:03.4	A solidarity ticket, the government is even paying the train fares.
1:09.2	There are many contrasts and similarities to the refugee situation seven years ago in
1:14.9	2015.
1:15.9	At that time, Hungary had a bad reputation in the world as a country that was not welcoming
1:22.1	to refugees.
1:23.5	People here today are bending over backwards to show that this is a country that does welcome
	...

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