US-Hungarian Relations: A Much Needed Reboot
Hungary’s Viktor Orbán knows a thing or two about staking out a position very popular with Hungarian working class voters and aggressively derided by the American and European elite.
While Orbán may not be a name familiar to many Americans, he and our president-elect share quite a bit in common.
Donald Trump's road to 306 electoral votes was mostly a solitary one.
From his campaign announcement in June 2015, to receiving the GOP nomination in July 2016, right up to President-elect Trump’s victory on November 8, high-profile leaders from around the world kept their distance from the Donald.
Even many of those who came out early for Trump periodically jumped ship and pulled their support when the candidate was accosted by a news cycle.
Hundreds of high-profile Republicans publicly backed Hillary Clinton, citing Trump’s myriad perceived shortcomings as a candidate and - the unthinkable - world leader.
Some called him dangerous. Some said his extreme policies would put the country’s national security at risk. Others decided that candidate Trump’s lack of foreign policy chops all together disqualify him to be president.
In Eastern Europe, Orban, a high-profile and often contentious leader’s ears must have been ringing.
Orbán and Trump share similar views on hotly-debated issues such as immigration, national security, border defense, and the economy.
Orbán surely recognized a kindred spirit in Donald Trump. Appropriately, the Hungarian Prime Minister became the sole voice on the European stage to come out forcefully in support of Trump's candidacy earlier this year:
“The foreign policy of the Democrats is bad for Europe and deadly for Hungary. In contrast, the foreign policy of the Republicans and proclaimed by presidential candidate Trump is good for Europe and means life for Hungary.”
And unlike many other so-called Trump acolytes, Orbán never looked back.
In recent weeks, both Orbán and Trump have signaled a smooth diplomatic road ahead – a welcome change of course for both nations following a very public cooling in recent years under the Obama Administration.
President Obama openly criticized Prime Minister Orbán for eroding democracy in Hungary, yet never entertained a one-on-one meeting with America’s NATO ally over the course of their shared six years in power.
With similar ideologies and – probably more important – a mutual respect for one another, both Orbán and Trump project a confidence that the “ideological obstacles” established by the Obama Administration will fall. In a congratulatory call to President-elect Trump, Orbán told the Hungarian business daily, Vilaggazdasag, that Mr. Trump, “made it clear he thinks highly of Hungary.
“With Donald Trump, the U.S. will get a president who won’t be ideologically bound. He’s open-minded and motivated much more by success, efficiency, and results than by political theories.”
While Hungary and the United States today appear to stand on the precipice of a fresh and productive partnership, exactly what this means and how this takes shape is still unclear.
For Orbán things are far less opaque. After years of seeing his influence in Washington on a steady decline, now is clearly a new beginning for Hungarian-US relations.
On December 1, still soaring from President-elect Trump’s victory, Orbán confidently declared that Hungary, once “stigmatized” in the west, “now belongs to a winning team.” Its politics “had become the politics of victors.”
For Trump's part, it was widely reported that he acknowledged in a telephone conversation with Orbán the significant role Hungarian Americans played in his victory. And of course, in his laconic, 140-character style, the President-elect voiced exactly what Orbán and Hungarians the world over want to hear: “I’m a big fan of Hungary.”
If ever an opportunity existed to make Hungarian-American relations great again, this must be it.