Hungary’s Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, demonstrated his support for Donald Trump even before the announcement about the former president’s second win at the recent US Presidential Elections. The race that saw Trump face Kamala Harris ultimately resulted in a resounding win for the former, who won his second presidency. But the early support of Orbán for Trump caught the attention of one US diplomat, who criticized the country’s Prime Minister for his choice.
US Elections Compared to a Casino Card Game
That’s the position of David Pressman, the United States Ambassador to Hungary. In remarks released on Wednesday, the diplomat was critical of Orbán’s position to support Trump, arguing that the Prime Minister treated the US election “like a card game at a casino.”
Continuing this gambling rhetoric, the Ambassador claimed that the Prime Minister placed a “very big bet” but argued that it wasn’t money being wagered but rather the relationship between the United States and Hungary. Pressman continued: “A relationship that has been altered by his gamesmanship. The damage caused runs deeper than a four-year term of a President, because it is rooted in an impulse to transform something big and lasting, a relationship between Allies – between strong nations – into something smaller and fleeting.”
Pressman argued that for a few years, the country’s Prime Minister supported the idea that all problems in Hungary will go away if a certain political party won an election in another country. Although he did not disclose a name in that particular case, this is likely Trump and the Republican Party.
What’s more, Pressman deemed Orbán’s stake as not only risky but even reckless. According to the Ambassador, such a reckless bet, regardless if winning or losing is putting at stake the future of Hungary “in the hands of non-Hungarians.”
A Gamble or a Strategic Political Move
It is likely that Orbán’s position wasn’t at all a gambling move but rather an effort to improve the relationship between the United States and Hungary. In that line of thought, the country’s Foreign Minister, Péter Szijjártó, said in a post on social media that the relationships between Hungary and the US during Trump’s first presidency “were at the top.”
The minister explained that this effective collaboration helped in “resolving conflicts that threaten the security of the world, dialogues and negotiations have come to the forefront.” Szijjártó added that following the elections, “we can have a good hope that the Hungarian-American political cooperation will return to its peak form because we have similar thoughts about peace, illegal immigration and protection of families.”
Despite the Foreign Minister’s prediction and Orbán’s anticipation, it remains to be seen whether or not Hungary will once again collaborate with America the same way it did during Trump’s first term as president.
