LETTER FROM CENTRAL EUROPE

David Pressman left Hungary in the early morning hours of Monday, January 13, hounded all the way to Budapest airport by the cameras of the Hungarian government's propaganda media. "The diplomat, who regularly attacks our country, cowardly fled in secret," celebrated the government news site Origo, barely concealing its delight at seeing this man close to the US Democrats leave the post of US ambassador to Budapest that he had held since 2022, just a few days before Donald Trump came to power.

It is admittedly traditional in American diplomacy for ambassadors to change according to the president-elect, who often appoints campaign donors. A former human rights lawyer and adviser to former Secretary of state Madeleine Albright, this 48-year-old, who is also close with Hollywood star George Clooney, was not a wealthy donor. But he was appointed to Budapest by Joe Biden with the clear goal of taking aim at Viktor Orban's authoritarian and pro-Russian excesses.

On X (formerly Twitter) and in his speeches, this brilliant orator never missed an opportunity to point out the Hungarian prime minister's closeness to Vladimir Putin or the corruption endemic in the Hungarian prime minister's entourage. "For too long, senior government officials in Hungary have used positions of power to enrich themselves and their families," he said in his latest speech. Delivered on January 7, it coincided with the announcement of unprecedented US sanctions against Antal Rogan, Orban's powerful chief of staff, regarded as the architect of the system of propaganda and corruption that has kept the Hungarian leader in power for the past 15 years.

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