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The US ambassador to Hungary has accused Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of running a “fantasy foreign policy” that serves the interests of the Kremlin and harms the unity of the Nato alliance.
In an interview with the Financial Times, David Pressman said the Hungarian government’s approach to international affairs was premised upon “imagined invaders” and a “fantasised Hungarophobia”. It served Orbán’s domestic political purposes and explained some of his policy positions, Pressman said. “But at the end of the day, it’s a fantasy.”
He also criticised Orbán for “actively participating” in the US election campaign with his open support for Donald Trump and calls for President Joe Biden to quit, saying it was “not something we expect from allies”.
The Hungarian government’s decision to politicise its bilateral relationships with allies, including with the US, had left it “more isolated and more alone than it has been in a very long time”, he said.
The unusually candid comments from the US ambassador lay bare the frustration in Nato and EU capitals about Orbán’s efforts to thwart further EU aid to Ukraine and his foot-dragging on the ratification of Sweden’s membership of the Atlantic alliance, as well as his weakening of democratic standards and the rule of law in Hungary.
On Tuesday, Hungary became the last holdout on ratifying Stockholm’s membership after Turkey’s lawmakers voted for it. Orbán says he is committed to the Scandinavian country’s accession but invited his Swedish counterpart Ulf Kristersson to Budapest to “negotiate”.
Meanwhile, EU leaders will reconvene in Brussels next week to try to strike a deal on funding for Kyiv after Orbán vetoed a €50bn four-year support plan last month.
Pressman said: “When you look at Hungary’s foreign policy, whether it be suggesting raising questions about Ukraine’s EU accession, stymying efforts to provide financial support to Ukraine, meeting with Vladimir Putin, resisting efforts to diversify off of Russian energy, resisting sustained efforts to close Kremlin platforms inside of Hungary, all of these have something in common. And it’s something that is leaving Hungary more isolated from its partners within Nato and its partners within the EU.”
He added: “These policy choices, without question, are helpful to Putin and harmful to careful efforts to keep the alliance and our partners together in standing up in the face of his aggression.”
The ambassador added that “Kremlin propaganda and disinformation” was being “routinely” spread by Hungarian media controlled or supported by the government.
One example, Pressman said, was an outlandish claim made by Orbán last month that billions of euros of EU funds due to Hungary but blocked by Brussels over rule of law concerns could be sent to Ukraine instead to the ultimate benefit of US arms manufacturers. “Where there are Americans there’s money, and where there’s meat there are flies,” Orbán said.
The claim “could come from Kremlin propaganda” and was “beyond unfortunate”, Pressman said.
The ambassador said the US cared about Hungary and regarded it as an ally but it was highly unusual to have one that refused to engage with US security concerns. Orbán’s government “would prefer to wait out the current administration”.
Orbán has participated in several pro-Trump events in recent years, appearing at annual meetings of the Conservative Political Action Committee both in the US and in Hungary, where he spoke out for the return of the former president.
“I am sure that if President Trump were president, then today Ukraine and Europe would not be stricken by any kind of war,” he said. “Come back, Mr President! Make America great again, and bring us peace!”
Trump has responded in kind, extolling the strong leadership of Orbán at campaign rallies around the US. “Some people don’t like him because he is too strong,” he said in New Hampshire last week. “It’s nice to have a strong man running your country.”
Pressman said he saw no desire on the part of Orbán’s government to repair its relationship with the US administration, but he said Washington had leverage that it could use.
The US this month terminated a bilateral tax treaty with Hungary over multiple concerns. Last year it imposed sanctions on a Russian development bank headquartered in Budapest after Hungary failed to heed Washington’s warnings to close it down.
“We absolutely have leverage, that is true,” Pressman said. “And we’re prepared to use our leverage.”
