Hungary not joining the "America bashing chorus in Europe"

It’s become very popular in the more socialist sections of Europe (which is most of it) to take shots at the United States these days, with a particular focus on President Trump. Angela Merkel was recently overheard saying that Germany may need a more strategic partnership with China, which is apparently more palatable than the White House in her mind. The President of France similarly seemed to get over his brief bromance with President Trump recently, declaring his tariff decisions to be illegal. But there are a few countries in the EU who have been choosing to go their own way and finding that Trump’s attitude on subjects such as illegal immigration and border control are right up their alley.

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Chief among those nations is Hungary, where Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been taking a similar, aggressive stance when it comes to immigration questions. This week his Foreign Minister, Peter Szijjarto, visited Washington and met with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. He came away from the meeting all smiles, declaring his nation to be a “natural ally” of the White House and reminding everyone of Hungary’s actions to prevent EU motions to condemn America. (Washington Times)

Hungary has no intention of joining the “U.S.-bashing chorus in Europe,” in part because Budapest and Washington now are singing from the same page on issues such as immigration, security and the right of sovereign nations to set their own policies, Hungary’s foreign minister said in an interview.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto said the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban is a “natural ally” of the Trump administration, one that is willing to challenge the liberal orthodoxy within the European Union that has been sharply critical of his government and the Trump administration. He spoke at the end of a Washington visit Wednesday that included a meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo — the first face-to-face bilateral meeting of U.S. and Hungarian foreign ministers in six years.

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Szijjarto made clear that this wasn’t just cheerful talk coming out of a diplomatic visit and his country had backed up those words with actions. Hungary (along with, to a lesser extent, Romania and Poland) has been blocking EU resolutions against the United States in much the same way that America has traditionally blocked United Nations moves against Israel. Most recently, Hungary prevented the passage of a statement condemning the United States for relocating our embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

The Foreign Minister went on to say, “There is a hysteria in the European Union against the United States and especially against the current administration. With this visit, I wanted to stress that Hungary is not joining this hysteria.”

You take your allies where you can get them and Hungary is currently causing all manner of problems for Belgium when they enact increasingly socialist policies involving open borders. America is likely to pick up another ally in the near future in Italy, where the Euroskeptic Five Star party has taken control of the government, aligned with some other groups opposed to open borders. I don’t know if this new alliance will last longer then the Trump administration, but for the moment they seem to be fighting a rising tide of anti-American sentiments among too many EU members.

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