As regular reader and J.R.R. Tolkein enthusiast Giorgia Meloni will tell you, Sauron started out as an angelic spirit whose obsession with order eventually turned into a desire for power and domination.
On a completely unrelated note, Viktor Orbán could lose his grip on high office this weekend if he’s defeated by Péter Magyar. If that happens, the European Council will lose one of its most interesting characters.
Orbán isn’t the only leader to have his own private zoo — former Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili has a shark tank, presumably topped by a trapdoor so rivals can be despatched with ease; and Chechen warlord (and noted gnome impersonator) Ramzan Kadyrov reportedly owns a tiger, a lion and a crocodile. But those two have as much chance of winning a seat at the European Council as the EU has of forging a unified foreign policy.
Orbán allows exotic animals, including zebras and antelopes, to roam his estate while still managing to bend and bedevil EU politics. Back in 2018 the Hungarian leader even adopted a rhinoceros. It’s unclear if it’s an Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) or a southern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum), but there’s no doubt of Orbán’s lineage as a Brusselus irritatii.
Owning exotic animals is classic hardman behavior, of course, and Orbán burnished those credentials by hanging out with the late Chuck Norris, star of “Walker, Texas Ranger,” and Donald Trump, star of “A Whole Civilization Will Die Tonight.”
Being mates with fellow long-tie enthusiast Trump — and, lest we forget, Vladimir Putin — is controversial, but perhaps Orbán’s most divisive act was to be pictured with a pizza that had oranges as a topping.
