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As a neighbor, Hungary should, of course, pursue good relations with Russia, which provides most of its energy, Mr. Jeszenszky said, but NATO and the European Union are the countrys natural allies and the guarantee against any aggressive tendency by Russia. Mr. Orban, he said, is tying Hungary too closely to Russia; one deal, to buy a costly new Russian energy plant, will indenture Hungary to Russia for years to come.

The meeting in Pecs was spirited and generally well mannered, even as a few audience members expressed anti-Western sentiments. Mr. Sermer, the Liberal Partys chief organizer, envisioned it as part of an effort to nudge Hungarians disaffected by the venality of Orban-controlled politics back into the political dialogue and eventually to vote. Many young Hungarians, including some of his friends, are moving abroad, Mr. Sermer said. But he believes that there is still hope for democracy, and, for now, he plans to stay and fight for it.

There are many reasons to be concerned about Hungarys eroding democracy, with its echoes of the populism and creeping authoritarianism infecting the other parts of Europe and even the United States. Mr. Orban has altered the political system to make it easier for his Fidesz Party to stay in power, enabled corruption, cracked down on independent media and civil society groups, and refused to share the burden of accepting migrants arriving in Europe. Although Hungary receives billions of dollars annually from the European Union, his government regularly demonizes the bloc, even spending tax dollars on anti-E.U. billboards.

Mr. Orbans campaign to shut down Central European University in Budapest, the school founded in 1991 by the Hungarian-born American billionaire George Soros to bring Western-style education to his homeland, has become obsessive. The government recently passed a law requiring that the school have a branch in the United States; it doesnt and may have to close.

However, unusually large street protests in Budapest and international criticism have forced the government to at least pretend to seek a compromise. In June, its representatives met in New York, where the university is registered, with officials from Gov. Andrew Cuomos office. The school is being allowed to operate during the 2017-18 academic year, but its future remains uncertain.

It should not be forgotten that Mr. Orban, once a liberal, was educated at Oxford with scholarship help from the same George Soros he now pillories as a foreign agent intent on fomenting dissent against the government. Mr. Soros, a benefactor of pro-democracy groups in Hungary and elsewhere, accused Mr. Orban in a recent speech of presiding over a mafia state.

Hungarians who want to see Mr. Orban replaced in the 2018 election know they face stiff odds. Everything is stacked against them: the structure of the political system, the heavily controlled media, the corruption, the fact that opposition parties are weak and unlikely to maximize their leverage by uniting behind a single candidate.

But many also ask a fair question: Why havent NATO and the European Union, which accepted Hungary to ensure its pro-Western future, reacted more strongly as those core values are eroded?

An earlier version of this Editorial Observer misspelled the name of a Liberal Party activist. She is Anett Bsz, not Annett Boesk.

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A version of this editorial appears in print on July 2, 2017, on Page SR10 of the New York edition with the headline: A Democracy Road Trip Through Hungary.

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A Democracy Road Trip Through Hungary - New York Times