Hungary's Orbán Model of Power Consolidation Documented in Georgetown Lecture (visegradinsight.eu)

• Erika Schlager, former US Helsinki Commission senior counsel, delivered the Ion Ratiu Lecture at Georgetown University in January 2024.
• Visegrad Insight published the lecture transcript on 2 September 2025.
• Schlager argues EU free movement acts as a pressure valve and links Orbán's methods to Poland and Slovakia.

"Visegrad Insight published on 2 September 2025 the transcript of a lecture delivered by Erika Schlager, former senior counsel to the United States Helsinki Commission, at Georgetown University in January 2024. The lecture examines democratic decline in Europe, using Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán as its central case. Schlager argues that the European Union's free-movement principle functions as a pressure valve, encouraging Hungarians who might oppose Orbán to leave the country. She points to shared methods of power consolidation in Poland and Slovakia, citing Jarosław Kaczyński and Robert Fico. The published text analyses de-democratisation, media capture, and control of institutions in Central Europe."