European Union leaders shun Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, but he enjoys a friendly relationship with former President Donald Trump.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
What can we learn about Donald Trump from his enthusiasm for one European leader? Trump repeatedly praises the leader not of Germany or France or the U.K., but Viktor Orban, the autocratic leader of Hungary, which has a population of about 9 million, smaller than some American states. From Brussels, Teri Schultz takes a look at what role Orban plays in Europe.
TERI SCHULTZ: American voters may be wondering why the prime minister of a relatively small European Union country gets mentioned in so many Republican rallies.
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DONALD TRUMP: There’s a great man, a great leader in Europe – Viktor Orban. He’s the prime minister of Hungary.
SCHULTZ: He’s one of the only EU heads of government who openly admires EU skeptic Donald Trump, so much so that Hungary’s branding for its six-month stint as president of the bloc had a very familiar ring.
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PRIME MINISTER VIKTOR ORBAN: Make Europe great again.
SCHULTZ: MEGA. The two men regularly reference each other in public statements.
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TRUMP: He’s a very great leader, very strong man. Some people don’t like him ’cause he’s too strong.
SCHULTZ: That’s not one of the criticisms EU leaders usually level against Orban. There are plenty of others. Among the most polarizing of late, not even a week into this rotating presidency, which usually focuses on coordinating and running EU meetings, Orban outraged his counterparts by visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, implying, with his use of an EU logo, that he went there on behalf of them all in what he called a peace mission. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and many others were furious.
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URSULA VON DER LEYEN: This was a plain appeasement mission.
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SCHULTZ: But Orban, who regularly blocks EU assistance to Ukraine, defended his Moscow meeting.
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ORBAN: (Through interpreter) We can be a good tool in the hands of the good lord, in the hands of people who want peace.
SCHULTZ: Trump is one of those people, too, Orban explained to fellow EU leaders after visiting Mar-a-Lago last month. He wrote in a letter to them that the former president could, quote, “act as a peace broker immediately between Russia and Ukraine if reelected.”
But if Orban’s outreach was controversial before, he’s outdone himself now, announcing that Russian citizens can come work in Hungary under simplified visa and security procedures. A Hungarian visa also allows travel to many other European countries, most of which have largely blocked entry to Russians due to the war in Ukraine.
PEKKA TOVERI: It presents a great danger.
SCHULTZ: Finland’s former military intelligence chief, Pekka Toveri, says this is too risky, given the high incidence of sabotage in Europe, believed to be Kremlin-backed. He says Budapest must now be isolated both politically and physically.
TOVERI: EU countries should immediately start checkups on the borders, and also all the air traffic coming from the Hungarian airports should be handled the same way.
SCHULTZ: Many EU member countries have already decided they won’t send top officials to meetings in Hungary. But Armida van Rij, a researcher at Chatham House, warns diplomatic snubs won’t sway Orban. She recommends targeting the billions of euros Hungary has allocated every year as the third-largest recipient of the EU budget.
ARMIDA VAN RIJ: What they should absolutely do is rethink the financial leverage they have over Hungary. I will be interested to see whether they actually have the political courage to do that.
SCHULTZ: If that doesn’t happen or doesn’t work, Pekka Toveri says the EU should also consider kicking Hungary out of the EU. He’s just been elected to the European Parliament and pledges that dealing with Hungary will be high on the agenda when the legislature reconvenes in September, two months before Orban finds out whether his close friend is moving into the White House.
For NPR News, I’m Teri Schultz in Brussels.
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