What Orbán's Fight Against A Budapest University Tells Us AboutThe Future Of Democracy

How can Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán claim he's a democrat when he's spent nearly a decade working to chip away at his country's democratic institutions? And why does he hate George Soros so much?

In this podcast, the first of a series from the Bertelsmann Foundation and Humanity in Action, host Andrew Keen explores these subjects with Michael Ignatieff, rector and president of Budapest's Central European University. As an organization founded by Soros, CEU has found itself consistently in Orbán's crosshairs — and may be forced to move to Vienna as a result of Orbán's efforts. 

Ignatieff explains the relationship between Orbán and Soros, and looks at just how Hungary has reached the point it's at today. He differentiates between fascist regimes of the 20th century and so-called "illiberal democracies" like Orbán's by noting that its methods don't involve imprisonment and violence so much as intimidation and control of media and online communication. And while Orbán can say he's a democrat because he was democratically elected, Ignatieff says that attention to minority rights and individual rights are what differentiates a liberal democrat from someone like Orbán.

Hungary is perhaps the most high-profile test case for challenges to democracy in the West; this podcast provides interesting insight into and perspective on the shifts that have taken place there.