By Rod Dreher, The American Conservative

The NYT reports that Viktor Orban is doing bad, very bad, things by going to Moscow and making nice with Vladimir Putin. Excerpts:

Mr. Orban has long been seen as a political chameleon — and reviled by foes as a brazen opportunist — but he is now pushing his shape-shifting talents to a new level. He has broken ranks not only with Hungary’s allies over Ukraine but also with his country’s own long history of wariness toward Russia as he seeks to reconcile economic populism with the nationalism that underpins his political brand.

Hungary, according to the European Union’s statistical agency, has the lowest electricity prices and third lowest gas prices for consumers in the 27-member European bloc. While prices elsewhere have doubled or tripled over the past year, Hungary has kept them steady, a feat that Mr. Orban’s governing Fidesz party is hoping will help it defeat an unusually united opposition in elections on April 3.

Hungary gets 80 percent of its natural gas from Russia — but Europe on the whole gets 40 percent. All of Europe, then, is deeply dependent on Russian natural gas. The Europeans know it, which is one reason Germany has been a reluctant partner in the US’s hostility towards Russia over Ukraine. More from the NYT piece:

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