Viktor Orbán’s strategies reached overseas – Even American lobbyists were involved

Many prominent American public figures and people related to politics were guests in Hungary and even met the Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán.

Donald Trump’s vice-president, Mike Pence, visited Hungary to attend the IV Demographic Summit in Budapest. The Prime Minister met him in the Carmelite monastery. Jeff Sessions, Minister of Justice under Trump’s presidency, was invited to deliver a speech at Duna Intézet (Danube Institute). The host of Fox News, Tucker Carlson, also met the Hungarian PM, and the PM gave him an interview, in which he talked about plans to found an ideological centre for the global conservative movement, writes Euronews.

The American Conservative Union founded in 1964 has the idea to hold a meeting in Budapest in 2022. This may be linked to the Hungarian strategy to make Orbán and Hungary more sympathetic in the opinion of Americans.

In 2011, a campaign started to make Hungary and the Prime Minister more popular and to extend networking opportunities. HirKlikk writes that the network of government offices, Hungarian diaspora groups, educational institutions, and Hungarian-American foundations established by the government had taken part in shifting the narrative of an authoritarian nationalist politician and the friend of Russia and China to that of a politician who is a world-renowned conservative leader.

Former US ambassador to Hungary praises Orbán’s premiership

Since 2012, 4.5 million dollars (1.4 billion forints) were spent on paying American lobbyists.

In 2014, Connie Mack IV from Florida, a former member of Congress, was hired. To her and the organisations led by her, 3.4 million dollars were paid. After the contract ended, Policy Impact Strategic Communications was the next collaborator, led by William Nixon, a veteran Republican lobbyist. In this case, only 265,000 dollars were paid. The strategy worked, and Tucker Carlson was introduced to the Hungarian Ambassador of Washington, and later, the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Péter Szijjártó, was interviewed by him.

During the Trump administration, Connie Mack was involved in the decision of the American government to not give a fund of 700,000 dollars to support independent Hungarian media. In 2019, the strategy arrived at a milestone when the Hungarian prime minister met Donald Trump in the Oval Office.

Hungary to become the exemplar of the American right-wing “Trumpism”?

Some Americans might have doubts regarding the Hungary Foundation, which supports young researchers and university students but seem to have strong ties to Hungarian politicians. In 2018, for instance, the granddaughter of Pál Schmitt (former president) got a scholarship. At the time, the  director of the foundation was no other than Anna Smith Lacey (née Stumpf), daughter of István Strumpf, former Constitutional Judge and Chancellor. In 2020, two think tanks in Washington were connected to the foundation, but the cooperation was ended on their part.

For a more extended analysis of the topic, read the article of The New York Times.

Source: Euronews, hirklikk.hu