PM Viktor Orbán to have nightmares because of President Biden?

Analysts say that Biden’s presidency can be economically beneficial but politically disadvantageous for Hungary. Since PM Viktor Orbán and Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó have said many times that they are in favour of former-president Donald Trump, it will probably be hard to break the ice with the new administration. Will the new US secretary of state, Anthony Blinken, help this, as he is of Hungarian origin on his mother’s side?

According to euronews.com, the protectionist economic policy and intolerance against sexual and ethnic minorities bound together Trump and Orbán, Washington and Budapest, in the last four years. However, despite the ideological agreement, Hungary did not benefit from this relationship in terms of foreign relations or finances. Therefore, Joe Biden’s presidency

could mean a turning point in the relationship between the two countries.

According to an analyst of Political Capital, we may realise the difference from the tone of the discourse between the two administrations. 

• Obama’s view on Trump and Orbán: they treat the people who elected them as subjects
• Barack Obama associates top-down dominant power with Orbán’s Hungary in interview
• Will the new American Secretary of State be a reason of nightmare for Orbán?

Péter Krekó said that PM Viktor Orbán is more of an artist seeking balance than a pro-East dictator. He enjoys the security provided by the European Union and NATO, but he is winking towards Russia or China as well. Therefore, he thinks criticism from Washington will be more frequent because of this policy and, thanks to that,

the Hungarian prime minister will have fewer opportunities for maneuvres.

The Hungarian government spoke out several times in favour of Donald Trump’s presidency. Furthermore, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó criticised Joe Biden during the presidential campaign several times because of his son’s suspicious business affairs in Ukraine.

Obama’s former vice president is still supporting liberal values and the export of democracy, so he mentioned Hungary in one of his rallies among the negative examples in this regard. Biden knows Hungary well since he spent his honeymoon at Lake Balaton, and he spent a lot of his time as vice president to deal with the affairs of the Central European region. Moreover, his foreign secretary will be Antony Blinken, whose father served as ambassador in Budapest and,

among his friends, there is George Soros.

Interestingly, from an economic viewpoint, Biden’s presidency can be beneficial for Hungary. That is because Trump conducted a trade war against the European Union and wanted to increase the taxes affecting the European car import significantly, which would have hurt the Hungarian industry as well.

Source: euronews.com