Politico chose Viktor Orbán as the fourth most influential in the “Doers” category on its annual ranking of the most powerful people in Europe. The Hungarian Prime Minister is preceded only by Emer Cooke, Head of the European Medicines Agency, Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, and Giuseppe Conte, Italian Prime Minister. Orbán is followed by French President Emmanuel Macron, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
News portal Politico has unveiled its ranking of the 28 most powerful people in Europe in 2021. The ranking reflects a search for the people with the most power and influence on European politics and policy. In addition to an overall No. 1, the list is divided into three categories — doers, disrupters, and dreamers — each representing a different type of power. This year, the winner of the overall category was German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is stepping down from her post after 15 years. In the “Doers” category, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán finished fourth.
Viktor Orbán is number 4 on our #POLITICO28 Doers list. What has he been doing? Hungary’s prime minister has created a model for “illiberal democracy” while avoiding any real punishment from Brussels.
Read his profile and explore our list of Europe’s most powerful people here 👇
— POLITICOEurope (@POLITICOEurope) December 7, 2020
According to the paper, after winning the migration debate, Orbán built an illiberal democracy in Hungary while successfully avoiding EU punishments. They add that in the last decade, the Hungarian Prime Minister has dismantled the country’s democratic institutional system with the “two steps forward, one step back” technique.
The first 24 names in our #POLITICO28 class of 2021 are out! POLITICO 28 is our annual ranking of the most powerful people in Europe. Click below to register and watch the unveiling of the top 4 live at noon CET.
— POLITICOEurope (@POLITICOEurope) December 7, 2020
The news portal added that the next big throw of Orbán — whom they nicknamed ‘The Eastern blockade’ — the EU budget veto, took him to the next level politically. Politico said that “it’s a risky gambit: That budget includes the €750 billion pandemic stimulus, money EU governments are desperate to spend — including his own, though Orbán claims otherwise.” Although it is not yet clear exactly where the debate is going, Western countries must now figure out how they can decide on the budget and the recovery fund by bypassing Orbán. And if that succeeds, Politico says the question rightly arises:
What is the point of keeping Hungary in the EU?
On the list of ‘Doers,’ Orbán is followed by French President Emmanuel Macron, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
featured photo: Zsolt Szigetváry/MTI