US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit Hungary on Monday to stop the spillover of Russian influence into a country with complex relations with the European Union.
Pompio arrives in Hungary on Monday and will also visit Poland and Slovakia, confirming Washington´s role in the collapse of communism 30 years ago. Poland, eager to strengthen relations with the United States amid the return of Russian influence, is taking part with Pompeo in a two-day conference on the Middle East, which has received little attention, amid different Europeans with US President Donald Trump´s tough stance on Iran.
Hungary is wary of Western powers because its prime minister, Viktor Orban, appears increasingly authoritarian, is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin despite Western concerns about Ukraine, and Hungary has the right to veto within the 28-member European Union.
A US official said Pompeo would raise concerns about Orban´s support for the Russia-backed Russian pipeline, Russia´s funding for the Bax nuclear reactor in Hungary, and in particular Hungary´s approval to allow Chinese giant Huawei to develop its fifth-generation network, Washington´s Chinese company undermines global security.
The right-wing leaders of Poland and Hungary were among the few Europeans who praised Tramp for sharing his hard line of refugees, his promotion of Christian values, and his hostility to multiple entities such as the European Union.
Initially, the US presidency welcomed the dialogue with Orban, who was treated coldly by former President Barack Obama, but fears grew in Washington that Hungary was nowhere near the American orbit.
Last year, Hungary disappointed the United States by returning suspected Russian arms dealers wanted by Washington to their country.
Despite the intervention of the US ambassador, the Central European University in Budapest said last year that it would transfer a number of its major programs to Vienna because of the difficult requirements imposed by Urban on institutes it considers foreign.
The university founded the Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros, a public supporter of liberal values, which the extreme right of the two countries and his image as anti-Semitic.
Pompeo will discuss the concerns with Orban and will meet with civil society groups during his visit to Hungary, the Foreign Ministry said.
"We should not be surprised by the meeting of an American secretary of state with organizations that receive support from the United States," he told reporters.
The US official strongly defended the dialogue with Hungary, saying the Obama administration did not care much about Central Europe, while Putin visited Budapest twice last year.
"We have to be there or expect to lose," the official said.
"These spaces were caused by the fact that the United States did not exist more strongly in these areas.
However, Jürg Vorberg, a Central European expert at the German-American Marshall Fund, said Orban is a politician who knows that the US influence is less than the EU´s influence he has defied for years despite the EU´s financial power over Hungary.
"This small country, Hungary, spits on Western values, traditional partnerships and existing integration projects such as NATO and the European Union."
He doubted that the United States and the European Union would be able to coordinate significantly on Hungary because of Trump´s weak relations with European allies, including Germany and France.
"I do not think Urban takes Pompeo´s visit seriously."
