Far-Right Republicans Meet with Far-Right Hungarians in D.C.: Authoritarians @Work

Written by Jack Hassard

On December 10, 2023

The Guardian reported that Far-Right Republicans will Meet with Far-Right Hungarians in Washington D.C. This is not surprising since the GOP fell in love with Hungary’s Prime Minister, Victor Orbán. Orbán is a far-right politician who supports Putin’s invasion and war with Ukraine.

Flora Garamvolgyi and David Smith write:

Allies of Hungary’s far-right prime minister Viktor Orbán will hold a closed-door meeting with Republicans in Washington to push for an end to US military support for Ukraine, the Guardian has learned.

Members of the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs and staff from the Hungarian embassy in Washington will on Monday begin a two-day event hosted by the conservative Heritage Foundation thinktank.

Viktor Orbán walks in front of EU flags at a summit in 2022

The first day includes panel speeches about the Ukraine war as well as topics such as Transatlantic Culture Wars. It is expected to feature guests including Magor Ernyei, the international director of the Centre for Fundamental Rights, the institute that organized CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) Hungary. Kelley Currie, a former ambassador under then president Donald Trump, said she was invited “but declined”.

According to a Republican source, some of the attendees, including Republican members of Congress, have been invited to join closed-door talks the next day.

The meeting will take place against a backdrop of tense debate in Washington over Ukraine’s future. Last week the White House warned that, without congressional action, money to buy more weapons and equipment for Kyiv will run out by the end of the year. On Wednesday Senate Republicans blocked an emergency spending bill to fund the war in Ukraine.

A diplomatic source close to the Hungarian embassy said: “Orbán is confident that the Ukraine aid will not pass in Congress. That is why he is trying to block assistance from the EU as well.”

Orbán is a frequent critic of aid to help Ukraine against the Russian invasion. Seen as Vladimir Putin’s closest ally inside the EU for the past few years, he was photographed smiling and shaking hands with the Russian president two months ago in Beijing.

Orbán recently demanded that Ukraine’s European Union (EU) membership be taken off the European Council’s agenda in December. The Hungarian leader posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter: “It is clear that the proposal of the European Commission on Ukraine’s EU accession is unfounded and poorly prepared.”

The Heritage Foundation is leading Project 2025, a coalition preparing for the next conservative presidential administration, and has in recent months hosted speeches by leading British Conservative party members Liz Truss and Iain Duncan Smith.

“Republicans to meet allies of Hungary’s Viktor Orbán on ending Ukraine aid,” by Flora Garamvolgyi and David Smith. The Guardian, Sun. Dec. 10, 2023.

This collaboration among far-right Republicans inside and outside Congress, Hungarian far-right officials and the Heritage Foundation is another example of the failure of the GOP to remain loyal to the U.S. Constitution and the underlying foundations of democracy.

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