Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was in Hungary on Monday to strengthen ties with the NATO member and U.S. ally. But his visit highlights a clear difficulty for the U.S.: pushing back on undemocratic allies while countering overtures from Russia and China. That’s a fine line to walk. Too much pressure to reform and undemocratic leaders will look elsewhere for support, too little and a country may lose its democracy for good.

These tensions were on display during Pompeo’s press conference with Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto. Talking up the danger of growing ties between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Pompeo warned, “We must not let Putin drive wedges between friends in NATO.” He later cautioned, “Russia’s not the only power that wants to erode freedom in this region” adding that he had already discussed with Szijjarto “the dangers of allowing China to gain a bridgehead in Hungary.”