During Trump’s time in office, ties between Hungary and the U.S. were good.
The Hungarian foreign minister says that his country hopes that former President Donald Trump will return to the White House. He says that the relationship between the U.S. and Hungary has gotten worse because the Biden administration has been “lecturing” and getting in the way of policy.
Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told Fox News Digital that his country, which is run by a conservative government, had good ties with the U.S. when Trump was president, but that things have gotten worse now that Biden is in charge.
“During President Trump’s time in office, we had the best government relationship we’ve ever had with the United States. I think that’s because President Trump has built this friendship on mutual respect, and he didn’t mean to judge, lecture, or teach us,” he said. “He focused on making America better, which he called “America First.” He also focused on making our relationship better, which can help both of us.
He says that the Biden administration is now trying to get involved in domestic matters. He points to a plan to end a mutual tax deal that stopped double taxation in 2022 because Hungary cut its business income tax. Last month, the U.S. also made it harder for people with Hungarian passports to travel without a visa, claiming security worries. The government has also been attacked many times for its treatment of human rights.
“The Democratic government is always trying to get involved in Hungary’s internal affairs. They judge us and give us lectures. The fact that they broke the mutual tax deal between the two countries shows that they tried to put political or economic pressure on us to change our policies, he said. “And that is not okay.”
He said that the “mutual respect” that existed before Trump is gone, and he claimed that politics are to blame.
“We know that the U.S. establishment is very upset that a conservative, right-wing, patriotic Christian Democrat government has been in power in Hungary for so long. But it’s not enough that we’ve been in power for a long time; we’ve also been successful, and I think this makes many liberal forces around the world very uncomfortable. So we do hope that President Trump will bring our friendship back to where it used to be.”
As an example of a unique difference, he brought up the war in Ukraine. He thinks there are about 150,000 Hungarians living in Ukraine, and some of them have been drafted into the army and sent to fight.
“So, to put it this way, we Hungarians are losing our countrymen, and we don’t want to lose any more Hungarians in this war. We don’t want any more people to die in this war, and not just Hungarians, he said.
The U.S. has tried to end the war by giving money and weapons to Ukraine so that it can take back land that the Russians have taken, but Hungary thinks that sending weapons will only make things worse. Thursday, President Biden told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the U.S. is “staying with you” while he tries to get Congress to give more money for the war effort.
Szijjarto said that his country wants the U.S. to bring “peace into the neighborhood, and not weapons.” He said he thought that was more likely to happen under former President Donald Trump, who is running for president again in 2024 and has said he would start peace talks to end the war if re-elected.
“We understand where President Trump is coming from. He wants peace in our area. And we hope that a U.S. government will bring peace to the area, because we have to face the fact that there will be no peace in the area without the U.S., Szijjarto said. “As long as we listen to President Trump, this is very good news, and we’re crossing our fingers for him because we already know what to expect from him. We know how things were when he was in office, and the fact that he wants to make peace is also in our best interests as a country.
Szijjarto said, “We are not Americans, so it doesn’t matter what we think about domestic politics, and we would never interfere in domestic politics either.”
“But of course, we have a past and a future to look forward to. We know what it’s like to work together, and we want the president of the United States to bring peace to our area. And it’s President Trump.”