Putin in Budapest, Orban on a quest

Putin may not have many political allies in Europe at the moment (at least from those in power, i.e. excluding far-right pals like Marine Le Pen of the French National Front and UKIP's Nilel Farage) so all the more reason to cherish the few he has like Hungary's Prime Minister Victor Orban, whose self-proclaimed "illiberalism" goes hand in hand with Putin's conservative values and whose ham-fisted reign so far has done a fair job taking a leaf from Putin's playbook to centralize power, muffle dissent (both in the media and online) and stir patriotism & xenophobia in his government's favor. Hence Putin's recent visit to Hungary.