Thread by @PatrickKingsley

Having consolidated power at home, Viktor #Orban's proxies are now shoring up his allies across Central and Eastern Europe — by buying up or founding right-wing media outlets. My latest article nytimes.com/2018/06/04/wor…

One beneficiary has been Janez Jansa, the right-wing nationalist whose party won the Slovenian elections on Sunday. If Jansa manages to form a coalition govt, #Orban would have another strong ally at the EU council

These investments in foreign media are not made directly by Orban himself. But the links are clear.

Usually the media outlets concerned are used to bolster the arguments of #Orban's allies. But in one case, a publishing house was used to loan money to directly to a right-wing political party.

Those on the Slovenian right, where most of the investments have taken place, don't think this is a big deal, since they feel the market is so skewed towards the left.

But Orban's critics feel something more chilling is in play: “They’re investing in a media empire to influence elections and to build up a new political force in the E.U."

And in the background, one of Orban's closest svengalis has been in talks with Steve Bannon to create a Breitbart for Eastern/Central Europe, @jasondhorowitz discovered.