Orbán did not receive an invitation to Trump’s inauguration, confirms Hungarian government
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, like other foreign leaders, was not officially invited to the inauguration of Donald Trump as the next U.S. President on 20 January, according to Zoltán Kovács, State Secretary for International Communication. In a Facebook post, Kovács clarified that no Hungarian government representative received an “official” invitation to the event, emphasising that the ceremony is traditionally a celebration of the peaceful transfer of power in the United States, not a gathering of foreign dignitaries.
Kovács highlighted that any foreign leaders or politicians attending the inauguration do so on personal or staff invitations, not in an official capacity. “This is not an occasion for formal talks or meetings but serves an entirely different purpose,” he wrote. Kovács also confirmed that Viktor Orbán would not attend the event. Instead, Orbán is scheduled to deliver a speech at a conference in Budapest evaluating the results of Hungary’s EU Presidency.
Speculations about foreign leaders’ attendance
Kovács addressed speculations that some leaders, including Orbán, might have been invited, following reports that several foreign politicians had been asked to attend the ceremony. The Argentine President Javier Milei’s office confirmed last December that he had received an invitation, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced on January 9 that she planned to attend, Politico reported. Other notable figures, such as Britain’s Nigel Farage, France’s Éric Zemmour, the Netherlands’ Geert Wilders, and Belgium’s Tom Van Grieken, are also expected to participate. However, Kovács clarified that these invitations were not official and were extended on a personal or informal basis.
Hungarian officials’ stance
Hungarian officials maintained that there was no practical reason for Orbán to attend the inauguration. In an interview with atv.hu, Gergely Gulyás, Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office, stated:
“It only makes sense for the head of government to go to Washington if they can engage in substantive talks with the new U.S. administration. Inauguration Day is certainly not that day, as it is primarily an event of U.S. domestic politics. Viktor Orbán has been an ally of Donald Trump long enough to not need to jostle among the thousands attending the inauguration to demonstrate his closeness to the new president.”
This position was reinforced by Bertalan Havasi, the Prime Minister’s Press Chief, who informed Telex that Orbán’s absence was due to his prior commitment to a domestic event. By addressing the lack of an official invitation and clarifying the nature of the inauguration, the Hungarian government has sought to quell any misunderstandings surrounding Orbán’s absence from the ceremony.
Read also: