Hungarians Risk Trump Ties If They Oust Orban, Ex-Envoy Says

(Bloomberg) -- Hungarians risk jeopardizing a special relationship with the US if they vote out Prime Minister Viktor Orban in elections next year, said US President Donald Trump’s former envoy to Budapest.

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Trump and Orban have forged a close bond, holding multiple meetings and calls in recent years. The Hungarian premier, who’s fashioned himself as an inspiration for nationalists around the world, endorsed Trump’s first presidential campaign and called for his return during the administration of Joe Biden.

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Now Orban’s political future is on the line. With elections due in a little over a year, his Fidesz party is trailing in the polls amid a cost-of-living crisis and allegations of widespread corruption.

“I’d hate that relationship to end,” David Cornstein, who served as US ambassador to Budapest until 2020, told Bloomberg News in a Zoom interview in reference to Trump and Orban. “It’d be the worst mistake the country could make” under a second Trump presidency, he said.

Orban’s main rival is Peter Magyar, a former ruling party loyalist who entered politics less than a year ago. He’s catapulted his Tisza party to first place in the polls, putting Orban on the back foot for the first time since he returned to power in 2010.

Trump is a “loyal guy” who’s likely to return Orban’s favor and endorse the premier ahead of the parliamentary election, said Cornstein.

US-Hungary ties deteriorated after Cornstein’s departure. His successor David Pressman took a tough line against Orban’s increasingly authoritarian rule and his close ties to Moscow and Beijing following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

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During Pressman’s term, Washington tightened visa conditions for Hungarians, ended a bilateral tax treaty and imposed sanctions on the Russian-controlled International Investment Bank, forcing Orban’s government to oust the lender from Budapest.

Earlier this month, the outgoing US administration also imposed sanctions on Antal Rogan, Orban’s most powerful minister and head of the secret service, for alleged corruption. Budapest portrayed the move as “revenge” for Orban’s support for Trump.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed to review the penalties against Hungary, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Jan. 26 after a phone call with Trump’s chief diplomat.

Cornstein, who is now retired, still visits Hungary regularly and maintains close ties with Orban. The ex-ambassador, a member of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, said he’s working to boost bilateral business ties with both leaders’ support.

Trump and Orban in office at the same time is a “once in a generation moment when you have the sun, the moon and the stars all aligned and you have to take advantage of that,” he said.

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