Orban Speech on Foreign Policy Angers Allies

The Hungarian government is facing criticism from allies over Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s speech on foreign policy over the weekend.

• Addressing supporters at an annual retreat in central Romania on Saturday, Orban offered a vision of a new world order which includes backing from China and Donald Trump’s potential return to the White House. He also touched on familiar themes about a weak EU core.
• “I don’t think we’ll get a political and economic offer from the US that will give us better opportunities than EU membership,” Orban said. “If we were to get such an offer, we’d have to consider it. Orban also noted that Hungary had received an offer from China to participate in each other's modernisation, with China investing in Hungary and providing development resources, while offering Hungarian companies a presence on the Chinese market. "There's no better offer," he said.
• In response to the speech, the Polish Foreign Minister said the “selfishness” of Orban in dealing with EU partners has left the country isolated and weakened, while the US ambassador to Hungary said comments on “conspiracy theories” about the US are “hardly what we expect from an Ally.”