Wins for pro-Putin leaders buttress autocracies in Europe

By JUSTIN SPIKE and JOVANA GEC
Associated Press

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Parliamentary elections in Hungary and Serbia brought landslide wins for the two countries’ longtime, pro-Putin leaders — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. Their victories on Sunday highlighted an underlying discord in attitudes among European nations toward the autocracies of Russia and China. As those powers seek to exert greater influence on the continent and beyond, Orban and Vucic have aimed to emulate the autocratic touch through their own style of governance in the heart of Europe.