The Outgoing Ambassador to Hungary Is Alarmed by What He Has Seen
Last month, Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary traveled to Mar-a-Lago to meet with President-elect Donald Trump. Posting afterward on X, Orban — a longtime supporter of Trump’s — wrote, “The future has begun!” alongside photos of him meeting with Trump and with Elon Musk. That admiration appears to be mutual: Trump has expressed respect for the small European nation and its policies — which include a crackdown on judicial independence, academic freedom and the media — as have several of his populist conservative allies, among them Vice President-elect JD Vance. A few years ago, Kevin Roberts, the head of the Heritage Foundation, which led the creation of Project 2025, said, “Modern Hungary is not just a model for conservative statecraft but the model.” In turn, Orban, who leads Hungary’s Fidesz party, recently claimed that “we have entered the policy writing system of President Donald Trump’s team” and “have deep involvement there.”
In addition to its notable domestic policies, Hungary occupies an unusual position in global geopolitics. It is a member of the European Union and NATO, two organizations that have long been associated with the defense of the liberal world order. But Orban is a friend to President Vladimir Putin of Russia and has taken positions in opposition to NATO and the E.U.’s support of Ukraine, rattling both alliances (including when he recently went to China to meet with President Xi Jinping). And the E.U. Parliament has said that Hungary, with its erosion of citizens’ rights, can no longer be seen as a full democracy. It now calls the country an “electoral autocracy.”
