ABSTRACT
This article analyses the democratic involution in Hungary, which was followed by the country embracing a pro-Russian policy in 2010. These processes came to be viewed as a rare case of authoritarian diffusion taking place towards an EU member state. Based on the discussion of interest versus ideational appeal as factors of authoritarian diffusion, the article develops a relational and dynamic framework to analyse the question of authoritarian diffusion. The framework underlines the importance not only of “sender state” attributes, but also those of receiver states. The analysis finds no empirical evidence for authoritarian diffusion; Hungary’s slide into illiberalism was not inspired or supported by Vladimir Putin. Instead, mutual interests are sufficient to understand Russo-Hungarian cooperation.
