VIKTOR ORBÁN, 58, Prime Minister 1986 Married. Five adult children. 2010 – 2021 Longest- serving prime minister of Hungary, reelected in 2014 and 2018. Longest-serving leader in the European Union.
It’s heartbreaking to see what is happening on the U.S. southern bor- der. Every night, we witness the over- crowded detention centers and chil- dren separated from their parents. It is beyond disturbing. Yet, six years ago, Hungary felt
similar pressure on its southern bor- der from a massive infl ux of illegal migrants from North Africa and the Middle East. Orbán acted decisively. He imme-
diately built a barrier fence along the border to stem the tide. He was the fi rst European politician
to say out loud that the immigration of people with radically diff erent back- grounds is not desirable. Orbán has been proven right. Following the failure of Germany’s
naïve Willkommenskultur policy that allowed practically anyone into its nation, countries like Austria, Den- mark, and even Sweden have followed Hungary and stopped or seriously slowed down immigration. Orbán’s tough migration policy
put him in confl ict with the Euro- pean Union’s unelected bureaucracy in Brussels. He has defi antly resisted their push to mandate the distribution of immigrants in Hungary and among other member states. “Only Hungarians should be allowed to decide who they want to share their
2022 Will seek a fourth term as prime minister in April. 1998 – 2002 First served as prime minister. 1989 Entered politics just before the collapse of communism. Defiantly called
for free elections and the withdrawal of Soviet troops. Became president of the Fidesz party, transforming it from a radical liberal student organization into a center-right people’s party. 2019 He announced that women who bear four
country with,” insists Orbán. Immigration is one of several recent
issues that have exposed a serious divi- sion within the EU between the domi- nant liberal democracies of western Europe and the newer member states in the East, like Hungary, which are more conservative. Brussels has taken Orbán’s govern-
ment to task claiming it is weakening judicial independence in Hungary and eroding the rule of law. Hungary, which like neighboring
Poland is one of the biggest recipi- ents of EU funding, responds that its values and rights to shape its own laws are being assaulted by Germany, France, and the Netherlands, which are the EU’s biggest paymasters. Then there is Russia. In the U.S., I often see people raise
eyebrows over Hungary’s alleged “closeness” with President Vladimir Putin. Hungary receives 85 percent of its energy from Russia. It is the biggest power in the neighborhood, so Hungary must maintain a positive relationship with the Russian bear. That said, the Hungarians know
well what it is like to live under a communist totalitarian government, as they did for 40 years after Soviet tanks rolled into Budapest in 1956 to crush democracy. Maintaining a civilized relation-
or more children would be exempt from income tax, adding: “We need to build a country in which those making the commitment to have children are financially better off than if they had chosen not to have children.”
ship with Moscow is key to its security. Still, Hungary understands its rela- tionship with the U.S., and its mem- bership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization remains crucial for its security. Orbán has said repeatedly that his
goal is to improve the Russia-NATO relationship, because “if relations between East and West are bad, Hun- gary loses.” Wise words. But it’s not just economic coopera-
tion our two countries can be proud of. During the Obama administration,
the State Department and the U.S. ambassador were frequently critical of Orbán, and Hungarians did not have a high regard for the U.S., either. Under Trump, our dedicated diplo-
mats at the Budapest embassy worked hard to change this attitude. Both countries saw signifi cant ben-
efi ts, and most importantly, we rati- fi ed a defense cooperation agreement that was signed before I left. The United States has built a solid
foundation with Hungary and the Orbán government. It’s imperative we build upon that for our own interests in Europe, for NATO, and to deal eff ectively with Russia.
David Bernard Cornstein is a successful New York businessman who served as U.S. ambassador to Hungary from 2018 -2020.
OCTOBER 2021 | NEWSMAX 47
ORBAN AND POPE©REUTERS / ORBAN AND TRUMP/ MARK WILSON/GETTY IMAGES
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