With the defeat of Law and Justice in Poland, Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary finds himself without a key illiberal ally in Europe. Having previously placed his bets on a swift Russian victory in Ukraine and diverged from European values, Orban is now confronted with an impossible dilemma. On one hand, he requires EU funds to sustain his government, while on the other, the EU insists on reforms that threaten to undermine his administration. Zsuzsanna Vegh, a visiting fellow at the German Marshall Fund, sheds light on Orban's ominous impact on civil society, noting his ability to "engineer public opinion" to his advantage.