The US ambassador to Hungary said Prime Minister Viktor Orban has reached a crossroads and that the “time is now” for him to pivot away from Russia and shore up the country’s relations with its western allies.
(Bloomberg) — The US ambassador to Hungary said Prime Minister Viktor Orban has reached a crossroads and that the “time is now” for him to pivot away from Russia and shore up the country’s relations with its western allies.
The unusually direct remark for a sitting US ambassador about a NATO partner’s international policy adds to mounting pressure on Orban to end his more than decade-long effort to strengthen ties with Russia. On Thursday, Orban said Hungary may need to “think hard” about its cozy relationship with Moscow following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Hungary has reached an important moment in determining its future path,” David Pressman said in a statement on Friday. “As Russia’s unjustifiable war rages next door, the time is now for a stronger relationship between Hungary and its Transatlantic Allies and partners.”
Orban, who since 2010 has overhauled every aspect of life in Hungary to reflect a self-styled “illiberal democracy” modeled on Putin’s style of governing, has been a thorn in the side of Hungary’s European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organization partners for advocating for the Kremlin even after the invasion.
Orban has criticized EU sanctions against Russia, refused the delivery of military aid to Kyiv and has dragged his feet on Finland and Sweden’s bid to join the defense alliance. His administration has been cut off from most of its EU funding due to concerns about graft and the rule of law.
Pressman’s comments — following meetings in Washington D.C. earlier this week with senior White House officials and Secretary of State Antony Blinken — escalate a standoff between the US and Hungary.
The Hungarian leader and his ministers, as well as the state-sponsored Hungarian media juggernaut they control, regularly lash out at the US for meddling in Hungary’s internal affairs.
During his meetings in Washington, Pressman said he discussed the “uniquely anti-American rhetoric from senior Hungarian officials and pervasive anti-American rhetoric in the media controlled by the Government of Hungary.”
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