Almost a year to date of his last appearance in the European Parliament, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán faced his critics again in a heated plenary session. With state default potentially looming, infringement proceedings underway in Brussels, and Fidesz’ popularity continuously dropping, the stakes were much higher than last January. Over the past weeks, Orbán has gradually retreated from his position of not ceding any ground on controversial legislation, and by the time he arrived in Brussels he claimed to have almost comprehensively succumbed to external pressure. While this did not stop him from lambasting his opponents, his sometimes combative approach apparently did not harm the impression that Hungary was ready to play ball with the international institutions that are necessary to keep the country’s finances afloat.

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