Debate over Hungary’s foreign politics

A pro-government analyst accuses the US of interfering in Hungarian politics in an effort to make Hungary follow America’s interests. A left-wing commentator finds the government’s foreign policy path completely mistaken.

On Mozgástér blog, Zoltán Kiszelly suspects that the Biden administration wants to force the Hungarian government to abandon its ‘pro-peace’ stance over Ukraine. The pro-government commentator recalls that USAID administrator Samantha Power pledged 200 million USD to support media freedom in Hungary. Kiszelly interprets this as a clear proof of US commitment to help the Hungarian Left. The US is strategy is to convince the government to sever economic ties with China and Russia and buy US liquified gas, Kiszelly suspects. Washington, he suggests, also fears that the Hungarian government’s calls for peace in Ukraine might be emulated by other European countries.

Népszava’s Gábor Hováth condemns the government’s calls for peace in Ukraine as a political mistake and a moral sin. The left- wing analyst thinks that if the government really wanted peace, it should call for the withdrawal of Russian troops. Horváth accuses the government of mimicking Kremlin propaganda which suggests that peace depends solely on the West, while all EU countries would only be too happy to see an end to the bloodshed. He wonders whether the government would maintain its ‘pro-peace’ stance even if Russia attacked Poland as suggested by Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.

Tags: foreign affairs, Poland, Russia, US