Hungarian appearance at two-day event
part of Orbán’s transatlantic attempt to
bolster Russia’s war

Flora Garamvolgyi and David Smith

Sun 10 Dec 2023
Allies of Hungary’s far-right prime minister

Viktor Orbán will hold a closed-door
meeting with Republicans in Washington
to push for an end to US military
support for Ukraine, the Guardian
has learned.

Members of the Hungarian Institute of
International Affairs and staff from the
Hungarian embassy in Washington
will on Monday begin a two-day
event hosted by the conservative
Heritage Foundation thinktank.

The first day includes panel speeches
about the Ukraine war as well as
topics such as Transatlantic Culture
Wars. It is expected to feature guests
including Magor Ernyei, the international
director of the Centre for Fundamental
Rights, the institute that organized
CPAC (Conservative Political Action
Conference) Hungary. Kelley Currie,
a former ambassador under then
president Donald Trump, said she
was invited “but declined”.

According to a Republican source,
some of the attendees, including
Republican members of Congress,
have been invited to join closed-
door talks the next day.

The meeting will take place against a
backdrop of tense debate in
Washington over Ukraine’s future.
Last week the White House warned
that, without congressional action,
money to buy more weapons and
equipment for Kyiv will run out by the
end of the year. On Wednesday Senate
Republicans blocked an emergency
spending bill to fund the war in Ukraine.

A diplomatic source close to the
Hungarian embassy said: “Orbán
is confident that the Ukraine aid
will not pass in Congress. That
is why he is trying to block
assistance from the EU as well.”

Orbán is a frequent critic of aid
to help Ukraine against the Russian
invasion. Seen as Vladimir Putin’s
closest ally inside the EU for the
past few years, he was photographed
smiling and shaking hands with
the Russian president two months
ago in Beijing.

[snipped]

In recent years Orbán has championed
a transatlantic far-right alliance
with a hardline stance against
immigration and “gender ideology”,
staunch Christian nationalism and
scorn for those who warn of a slide
into authoritarianism.

Hungary has been portrayed by
conservative media as an anti-“woke”
paradise and model for the United
States. Some far-right Republicans,
such as Kari Lake and Paul Gosar, said
they would like to see the
“Hungarian model” transplanted
to the US, especially when it
comes to immigration and family
policies. CPAC went to Hungary
for the second time this year,
and former Fox News host Tucker
Carlson shot multiple episodes
in Hungary touting Orbán policies.

Orbán has returned the favour
by lavishing praise on Trump.
During this year’s CPAC, where
Roberts was also featured as a
speaker, he claimed that if Trump
were president, “there would be
no war in Ukraine and Europe”.
The Hungarian prime minister
has criticised the multiple federal
indictments against the former
US president and called the
judicial procedure a “very
communist methodology” in a
recent interview with Carlson.

[snipped]

The Guardian

Published: December 10, 2023