Posted on 09/28/2018 12:40:59 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
Putin and Orban are increasingly conscious that their regular contacts have failed to bring the two countries closer together. In fact, despite its reputation as the EU’s most pro-Russian member-state, Hungary actually expelled a Russian diplomat in response to the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal, unlike fellow EU member-states Slovenia, Bulgaria, Austria, Slovakia, Greece.
In the spring, Orban readily deployed anti-Russian rhetoric during Hungary’s parliamentary election campaign. Bela Kovacs, a member of the European Parliament from the Jobbik opposition party, was indicted for alleged spying on the eve of the vote, having faced accusations of being a Russian agent since 2014. Talk of importing Romanian gas also served to underscore Budapest’s independence from Moscow.
In July, Orban unequivocally declared at the NATO summit in Brussels that Russia was a threat to Europe. Although the phrase was not central to his speech, it attracted significant attention, contrasting, as it did, with the Hungarian prime minister’s earlier pronouncements. For years, he had reasoned that Russia sanctions should be lifted.
Orban has cooled to Putin because he now has allies other than Moscow—namely, Washington. Brussels and Washington have not been united in isolating Budapest within the West since 2017. The current U.S. president often clashes with Brussels, but he has yet to fully grasp what a powerful potential ally he has in Orban. As such, Orban has set out to explain it to the man in the White House in the most convincing terms.
Heeding Trump’s call to increase defense spending, the Hungarian prime minister realized—in his ninth year in office—that it was wrong for his country to spend only around 1 percent of its GDP on defense. He promised to increase spending to 2 percent and rebuked those European countries not rushing to follow suit.
(Excerpt) Read more at carnegie.ru ...
A Hillary presidency would have undoubtedly put countries like Hungary and Poland in a tough spot -- with neither Brussels nor Moscow as trustworthy partners and allies. Thankfully they have a friend in Trump's America! Secretary Pompeo is already making Hungarian-US relations a priority, and hopefully a Trump-Orban meet up will take place soon.
Yes.
Orban of Hungary is a good friend to the US and hopefully vice versa.
Love those Hunkies!
You mean — Magyars.
Indeed.
You can call me a Polack any time you want, and I’ll just laugh.
Orban is great and the Hungarian and Polish people are united in their determination to preserve their cultures from Third World filth.
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