From adversary to friend – sanctions suddenly change Orbán's view of US

"The United States is our friend and important ally", Viktor Orbán declared on Kossuth Rádió on Friday morning. The Prime Minister praised the military and economic ties between the two countries at length, noting that the belief in freedom and the market economy, as well as Christianity, also connect Hungary and the US.

The tone of Friday's interview was unusual and somewhat surprising after the bickering-filled back-and-forth messaging of recent months. According to a Magyar Nemzet article,

the prime minister even listed Joe Biden and the US administration as his adversaries.

at the Fidesz-KDNP parliamentary group meeting in Balatonfüred in February held behind closed doors.

What exactly Orbán told to the MPs has never been revealed. At last week's cabinet briefing, Gergely Gulyás said that the Hungarian prime minister had never said such a thing in public, and the details of a closed session are not a matter for the public. In any case, the Minister at the Prime Minister's Office had previously advised US diplomacy not to rely on Magyar Nemzet for finding out about Orbán's opponents.

It is not by chance that Orbán has now adopted a more friendly tone towards the United States. Last Wednesday, US Ambassador David Pressman announced that the United States had placed the Hungarian-based International Investment Bank – also known as the spy bank – and its three executives on the sanctions list. Two of them are Russian citizens, but Imre Laszlóczki, the bank's vice-president is Hungarian.

"We have taken note of this and we will abide by it", Orbán said on Friday in reaction to the US government's decision, attempting to lessen the gravity of the matter by saying that, in his view, the sanctions were actually not imposed on Hungary, as there was only one Hungarian name on the list of 34. In any case, within a day of the US announcement, the Hungarian government decided that Hungary would rather leave the international financial organization.

We cooperate with the administration elected by the American people

Although Hungarian diplomacy has sought friendship with the US since the Second World War, Orbán says it makes a difference who is at the helm of the allied power. "When there is a Democrat in the White House, our relations are more difficult. If there is a Republican president, they are easier."

According to the Hungarian prime minister, the Republican view is closer to the Hungarian government's on issues such as gender and migration, but he immediately added:

"It's not our job to pick and choose between the actors in American politics. It is up to the American people to decide to whom they will give the main power. We will work with the government that the American people elect".

This also comes as a novelty after Orbán's attacks on Joe Biden and the Democratic administration have been going on for years, while he’s been openly supporting Donald Trump.

In early April, the Hungarian prime minister posted a photo of him and Trump with the text:

"Keep fighting, Mr President! We are with you", while Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó repeatedly warned the US ambassador to Budapest not to interfere in Hungary's internal affairs, because it was none of his business and his views were irrelevant anyway.

Even before the 2020 US election, Viktor Orbán openly said that he would support Trump's re-election, because relations between the United States and Hungary have changed a lot, and have become friendly since the former US businessman had been elected. The Hungarian prime minister said that

"we have received this rare gift from providence and from President Donald Trump".

Even after Trump's downfall, Orbán did not back down and as the next election approached, expressed his support for him again:

"We are counting on the next election in America in 2024, as our Republican friends are preparing for their comeback with bulging muscles," Orbán said in his annual State of the Nation speech in February, but he has also said several times over the past year that he believes the Russia-Ukraine war would not have broken out if Donald Trump had been in charge of the US.

Just a few weeks ago he said that the 2024 US election would have a direct impact on the war, because Trump, like the Hungarian government, wants a ceasefire and peace talks. According to Orbán, "the truth is that Ukraine can only fight as long as the United States says yes to that".

They can send whoever they want to Hungary

In Friday's radio interview, Orbán not only refused to give his opinion on who the Americans should choose to lead their country, but also seems to have accepted that the US government has appointed David Pressman as ambassador to Hungary.

"They can send whoever they want. And we have to accept that the US ambassador represents the views of the United States in Hungary."

– Orbán said on public radio.

Since David Pressman's appointment last September, a real war of words has developed between the Hungarian government and the ambassador. After the ambassador's remarks at his Senate hearing about democracy and the rule of law being in decline in Hungary, the Hungarian Foreign Ministry only sent a department head to receive Pressman when he arrived, which was a departure from the general rules of diplomatic protocol.

"It is fortunate that the White House retained its sense of humour, and President Biden sent a "press man" instead of a "good friend" (André Goodfriend was Chargé d' Affaires prior to Pressman's arrival) to be ambassador here, so he can try to pressure the Hungarians into the war camp at any cost, and squeeze a declaration of accession out of us. It's all right, because humour can help friendship through hard times. But we shouldn't get to the point where they send someone called Puccini (suggesting an intention in US politics to trigger some kind of putsch in Hungary.) next time" – Orbán sniped at the ambassador in his annual State of the Nation speech in February. Gergely Gulyás later called this permissible wittiness.

Even in the wake of the US sanctions, Orbán's opinion doesn't seem to have changed on one thing: he still says that the Americans want war, while the Hungarians want peace. While he continues to criticise what he sees as the US's attempt to force Hungary into the war in Ukraine, he has been much more permissive about the diplomatic consequences.

“The Hungarian-American friendship has to endure this difference of opinion.”

Moreover, the Hungarian prime minister said that he also understands the Americans, as the Ukrainian front is far away from them, and the risk of world war looks different from Washington than it does from Budapest, Košice or Berehove.

Although we can't talk of a diplomatic turnaround yet, Orbán has clearly struck a different tone now that the US has taken specific action against the Hungarian government, in addition to condemnatory statements and human rights reports. This undoubtedly has to do with press reports suggesting that the Americans are already preparing for a new round: several former Hungarian government officials and close government associates could be placed on a visa ban list under a US bill focusing on corruption.