On Thursday, Hungarian authorities announced that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán would be headed to the White House on May 13. But that meeting between President Trump and the right-wing Hungarian leader must be more than just a feel good celebration of bilateral relations.
Since coming to power in 2010, Orbán has eroded Hungary’s democracy and looked to strength ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Domestically, Orbán and his Fidesz party have rewritten election laws, developed policy based on xenophobia, cut the independence of courts, clamped down on independent media and forced the relocation of a U.S.-accredited university.
Those are concerns clearly on Washington’s radar. During a February visit to Hungary, for example, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with civil society leaders and talked about the need to support democratic institutions — a critique, albeit a mild one, of Orbán’s increasingly authoritarian tendencies.
On the same visit, Pompeo also voiced another set of U.S. concerns: growing ties between Hungary and Russia. As he explained at a press conference along side Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto “We must not let Putin drive wedges between friends in NATO.”
Those issues must be at the forefront of Trump’s White House meeting with Orbán — even if that means taking a break from championing bilateral relations to have a frank and difficult conversation. Orbán’s alliance with the U.S. must not be an excuse for blind support of his policies.
Trump must take the opportunity of a face-to-face meeting to make clear actions like shutting down universities, clamping down on the free press and suppressing opposition will not be supported by the United States.
Unfortunately, that seems unlikely such a rebuke seems unlikely to end up on the agenda. Throughout his administration, Pompeo’s mild critique notwithstanding, the U.S. has been willing to play along with Orbán’s agenda.
After Orbán complained about a State Department program to foster freedom of the press in Hungary, the Trump admiration cut the funding. Similarly, U.S. Ambassador David Cornstein has refused to call out Orbán’s policies.
Although this strategy of appeasement might yield short term improvements in bilateral relations and maybe secure new arms sales to Hungary, in the end it will send a dangerous message to allies and rivals alike that Washington is more than happy to compromise on what it claims are core values.
