On Sunday, voters in ousted Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his Fidesz party, as polls had consistently predicted they would. Orbans prompt concession suggests a peaceful, democratic transfer of power in the days to come. Most notably, Hungarians appear to have been unswayed by foreign attempts â both real and imagined â to subvert or manipulate their judgment.
This should not come as a surprise to Americans. We, too, bristle at suggestions that anyone but our own lawful citizens ought to have a say in our democratic process. And beyond the extreme margins of our politics, there is little evidence that foreign influence campaigns are very successful in shaping the views of American voters.
Americas own political leaders have traditionally abided by the idea that politics stopped at the waters edge. Theyve sought to avoid even the appearance of telling other sovereign democracies how to run their internal affairs and resisted the urge to treat as an extension of our domestic politics.
I havent hesitated to call out departures from these prudent customs, like the increasingly flagrant ways that elected Democrats have sought to insert themselves into the lively democratic politics of Israel. Yet, for the better part of a decade, Hungarian politics has persisted as an object of intense fascination in certain corners of the American right.
This phenomenon is endlessly puzzling. Americas self-proclaimed national conservatives spoke of Orbans Hungary as an oasis of traditionalism amid the wasteland of an ailing, liberal and decadent postmodern Europe. And some American politicians appear to have bought into the myth.
To be clear, it is a myth. Orbans champions on this side of the Atlantic may well consider his illiberal court-packing, crony capitalism or restriction of free speech an acceptable price for their desired social utopia. Yet for all the talk of reviving faith and family through statist intervention, Hungarys religious participation and birth rates under his rule have declined right alongside the rest of the West.
Of course, had any of the breathless pronouncements of Hungarys unique virtue been true, theyd be a reasonable basis for personal affinity … but not for U.S. foreign policy. Shared values can be a useful entrée into deeper cooperation with allies and partners. But to the extent that values have played a central role in successful U.S. foreign policy, it has been in service to, and aligned with, our strategic interests.
Clearly, Orbans fawning servitude to authoritarians doesnt reflect American values. But far more importantly, his governments fealty to Moscow, its willingness to be a gateway into Europe for , and its deepening ties with Iran run counter to Americas interests.
These allegiances ought to matter a great deal to American conservatives who, quite rightly, expect European allies to carry a greater share of the burden of deterring threats to our shared Western interests.
The Trump administrations 2025 National Security Strategy observes that America “will need a strong Europe to help us successfully compete” with strategic adversaries. But Europes tremendous progress toward greater burden-sharing on defense has come despite Hungarys defense budget shrinking by 6% last year and Orbans active opposition to European Union support for Ukraine. While other allies have decreased their reliance on Russian energy, Orban has doubled down on . And in 2024, he struck an “all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership” with Americas foremost strategic adversary, the PRC.
Orbans Hungary offered America little in the way of strategic alignment, let alone “moral cooperation.” Today, the highest shared value between Americans and the people of Hungary is the right to choose our own leaders, freely and fairly
