Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has many American conservative fans. They praise Orban’s strict immigration policies, his protection of Christian values, and his resistance to European Union diktats that undermine Hungary’s sovereignty.
Orban’s strongest U.S. support comes from the most pro-Trump wings of the conservative movement. Evincing as much, it was announced last month that the American Conservative Union will next year hold a CPAC summit in Budapest.
It’s also fair to say that Western media coverage of Orban’s government is often biased. While Orban is, sometimes fairly, criticized as an anti-democratic demagogue, many of his policies retain very significant domestic support. This is true of his anti-gay education policies, for example, which his top rival party does not disagree on. In the last 2018 parliamentary elections, Orban’s Fidesz–Hungarian Solidarity alliance won five times as many seats as the second-place party.
Put simply, he is not a dictator. But whatever conservatives think about Orban’s domestic policies, they should not delude themselves into thinking that Orban is America’s friend. On the contrary, Orban’s friendship is with America’s most preeminent adversaries, China and Russia.
Orban has made himself Xi Jinping’s second most important friend in Europe (exiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel holds the top spot). Confronting Chinese imperialism in the East and South China seas, rampant Chinese intellectual property theft, and Beijing’s genocidal human rights policy, the U.S. wants its allies to push back against Beijing. Orban isn’t interested.
He has blocked EU action against Chinese human rights abuses while welcoming a $1.5 billion campus of China’s Fudan University to Budapest. This isn’t about expanding horizons — in 2019, Fudan was pressed into service of Xi’s agenda, its charter stripped of a commitment to “freedom of thought.” The charter instead gained a commitment to “arming the minds of teachers and students with Xi Jinping’s new era of socialist ideology with Chinese characteristics.” It remains unclear how these values comport with Orban’s Christian nationalism.
But Xi is grateful. Thanking him for supporting the Chinese Communist Party in Europe, Xi used an April phone call to tell Orban “that China highly appreciates Hungary for its firm adherence to a friendly policy towards China. … and safeguarding the overall China-Europe relations.” Xi’s reference to Europe speaks to his concern over rising EU skepticism toward Beijing. With Merkel leaving office, the value of Orban’s communist kinship will only grow.
A similar tale applies with regard to Russia. Vladimir Putin contests NATO’s eastern flank, wages an energy war on Europe, and conducts hyperaggressive covert action campaigns against the West. Putin is now using Belarus to wage an immigration destabilization campaign against Poland.
Orban isn’t bothered by any of this. Hungary might be a NATO ally, but under Orban, it’s about as reliable a NATO ally as Turkey. That’s saying something.
In April, Orban vetoed a robust condemnation of Russia for its terrorist attacks on Czech arms depots. Orban has repeatedly called for the removal of EU sanctions imposed on Russia following its seizure of Crimea from Ukraine. He has also resisted tentative EU moves to target Putin’s illicit financing networks. And just last week, Orban agreed to a deal with Putin to see Gazprom redirect energy supplies through Austria and Serbia, and out of Ukraine. The move will deny Ukraine energy transit fees, weakening Kyiv’s revenue base as it faces Putin’s ongoing war in its southeastern provinces.
Orban’s action must be seen for what it is: direct support for Putin’s energy war on Europe. He is greatly undermining the security of NATO allies such as Poland and the Baltics.
So, yes, Orban might be adored by American conservatives for his domestic policies. But let’s not pretend he’s an American friend.
