Hungary Has Many Friends in US, Says Political Director

"Prime Minister Viktor Orban's meeting with former US President and current Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump proves that Hungary has many friends in the United States," Balazs Orban, the PM's political director, told Kossuth Public Radio (MR1) in an interview on Sunday.

Debrecen, 2023. december 19. Orbán Balázs, a miniszterelnök politikai igazgatója beszédet mond új könyvének, a Huszárvágás - A magyar konnektivitás stratégiája címû kötet bemutatóján, a Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC) debreceni oktatási központjában 2023. december 19-én. MTI/Czeglédi Zsolt Fotó: Czeglédi Zsolt

Listen to the full interview in Hungarian here:

According to the politician, circles linked to the US Democrats are financing the Hungarian Left, the political opponents of the government.

Clearly, there is a lack of agreement between the current liberal US administration's opinion and that of the Hungarian government and people,

he said, indicating that a change would be welcomed.
It seems that "many in the Republican Party see Hungary as a role model and a key European ally", he said, adding that  

"Europe cannot afford to cut itself off from a former president who is leading in opinion polls seven months before elections. The stakes are simply too high, Hungary in any case cannot afford this luxury." 

Europe has to negotiate with the current and future leaders of the United States, in Balazs Orban's view. In every diplomatic forum Hungary is making every effort to convince participants that this conflict is of no benefit to the Western world and that it could bring a plethora of dangers.
 

Whatever pressure they exert on us, Hungary will not allow itself to be dragged into this war, he stated.
Increasing numbers of Western politicians are speaking out in favor of peace, and are also encouraged by Donald Trump's position on this issue, making the peace-makers' camp grow by the day, he said, noting that this is in the interest of all Hungarians.

  Prime Minister Viktor Orban at a panel discussion on the future of US-Hungary relations held in Washington DC by the Heritage Foundation, the most prominent American conservative think tank, March 7, 2024. Photo: MTI/PM's Press Office/Zoltan Fischer

The day before the meeting with Donald Trump, the delegation took part in a conference and roundtable discussion in Washington DC, organized by the prestigious Heritage Foundation, where they discussed how the conservative policies "tried and tested in Hungary over the past 14 years" could serve as an example for other countries.
This kind of cooperation and mutual attention is extremely widening the scope of Hungarian foreign policy and paving the way for many future joint projects, the political director said, adding that when the Republicans return to the helm, they intend to give a new impetus to Hungary-US relations, to remedy the detrimental policies of the Biden administration in recent years.

Cover photo: Balazs Orban, political director to the prime minister, speaks at the launch of his new book (English edition titled 'Hussar Cut: The Hungarian Strategy for Connectivity'), at the Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC) education center in Debrecen, December 19, 2023 (Photo: MTI/Zsolt Czegledi)