US-Hungarian relations reach new low

BUDAPEST It is a relationship that has been defined by snubs, sanctions and public reprimands. But in recent days, U.S.-Hungarian relations appear to have reached new levels, the lowest in the post-Cold War era.

In a blunt speech Thursday, U.S. Ambassador David Pressman accused Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban of acting to undermine trust.

This is not a government that is open to dialogue, open to demarches and offering to work together to resolve problems constructively, Pressman said in an interview ahead of a speech marking the 25th anniversary of Hungary's membership in the NATO alliance. It is for this reason that the United States is committed to relentlessly denouncing Hungary, he said.

In his speech, Pressman criticized Budapest for cronyism, muzzling of opposition voices and takeover of independent media, in effect expanding on a claim by President Biden last week that Orban seeks dictatorship.

Hungarian officials had already been greatly offended by the comment, with the Hungarian Foreign Ministry urgently summoning the US ambassador on Tuesday.

Biden made the remark during Orban's trip to the United States in violation of protocol last week. An avowed nationalist who has ruled Hungary since 2010, Orban did not receive a White House invitation or meet with administration officials, but instead visited former President Donald Trump by walking a red carpet, flanked by American and Hungarian flags at Mar-a-. Lake in Florida.

Afterward, Orban hailed Trump as a president of peace, adding in a post on social media platform X: We need him more than ever!

Pressman said in his speech that Prime Minister Orban, who on the one hand baselessly claims that the United States government is trying to overthrow his government, is publicly calling for the political defeat of the President of the United States.

Orban has begun to characterize the current US administration as a democratic administration, appearing to deny it any legitimacy. Hungarian officials have made it clear that they view Biden as a lost cause and are pinning their hopes on a Trump victory in November.

We consider the Republicans to be the real America, said Zoltan Kovacs, international spokesperson for the Orban government. Among the Democrats, he said, there is this ideological approach, represented not only by the central administration but also by the ambassador here, and a constant pressure to do things that we are not going to do.

Hungary has taken a ruthless approach to foreign policy, repeatedly dragging its feet on multilateral efforts to support Ukraine and sanction Russia. Orban delayed approval of Sweden's entry into NATO for almost two years.

While isolating Hungary from many of its allies in the European Union and NATO, its criticism of progressive globalists has won it fans among American Republicans and inserted the central European nation into politics American interior.

He punches well above his weight for a leader of a country of 10 million people, said Kim Lane Scheppele, a Princeton University professor who previously worked on Hungary's Constitutional Court.

It attracts attention; he gets more and more power, she added. He got it by breaking all the rules of civility and politeness.

In a flattering interview with Tucker Carlson last summer, Orban said Trump's return was the only way to end the war in Ukraine and accused Washington of interfering in Hungary's electoral process.

Washington tried to get official clarification from Orban, Pressman said, calling the comments unrecognizable to the United States.

The letter received no response.

Budapest makes no apologies.

Why respond to claims, remarks and pressures clearly motivated by political considerations and ideologically biased? Kovacs said. Late last month, a bipartisan congressional delegation visiting Hungary was also snubbed.

Hungary is only reacting to the action, Pressman said, citing U.S. sanctions against the International Investment Bank in Budapest, nicknamed a spy bank because of its ties to Russian intelligence, which ultimately led to its closing.

The United States has also restricted Hungarians' access to its visa waiver program over concerns that foreign nationals have fraudulently obtained their passports, saying Hungary has failed to address security concerns.

Budapest sees the political wind turning in its favor on both sides of the Atlantic. Polls show Europe tilting to the right ahead of elections for the 27-member parliament next June.

While Hungary tries to wait out those it disagrees with, whether in the United States or the European Union, the rest of the world is moving forward, Pressman said.

Hungary's new president finally approved Sweden's NATO membership last week, eliminating a source of friction with the United States. But Hungarian officials are already angering allies and upending succession plans by saying they will block Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte from becoming NATO's next secretary general. Rutte has been a leading supporter of withdrawing EU funds from Hungary over concerns about democratic backsliding.

What Orban has learned is that in most of the exclusive clubs he belongs to, like NATO and the EU, many things are done unanimously, Scheppele said. So Orban will now hold on and take advantage of everything he can get.

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