Rob Schmitz is NPR's international correspondent based in Berlin, where he covers the human stories of a vast region reckoning with its past while it tries to guide the world toward a brighter future. From his base in the heart of Europe, Schmitz has covered Germany's levelheaded management of the COVID-19 pandemic, the rise of right-wing nationalist politics in Poland and creeping Chinese government influence inside the Czech Republic.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has long been accused of corruption. Sightseers now flock to his hometown as groups aim to raise awareness of what they say are the leader's excesses.