Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban wants the European Union to “stand on its own interest in relation to China” rather than align with the United States.
“The interest of [the] United States and [the] interest of [the] European Union and the European countries in relation to China are definitely different,” Orban said Tuesday at the Qatar Economic Forum. “So this is the starting point.”
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Orban has dissented from what he calls “the mainstream European approach” toward Russia and the war in Ukraine while using clashes with Brussels and Western European leaders to cultivate a reputation on the American Right as a bulwark of international conservatism. Yet his posture toward China could reinforce French President Emmanuel Macron’s stated desire to resist “tak[ing] our cue from the U.S.” with respect to China, even if Donald Trump manages to triumph in America's 2024 elections.
“So to harmonize our policy, or to cooperate on this subject, requires negotiations between the United States and the European Union,” Orban said. “And even if the president of the United States will and would be Trump, we have to negotiate on that seriously. It's a complicated, difficult subject, but I think Europe should stand on its own interest in relation to China.”
Orban leads one of the smallest European states, but the EU operates based on consensus, a dynamic that enhances Hungary’s clout in Brussels. Orban has deployed that veto authority most recently to block a new tranche of EU funding to arm Ukraine, a maneuver that Budapest justifies as retaliation for Ukrainian officials branding a Hungarian bank as an “international sponsor of war” due to its continued operations in Russia.
“If a country like Ukraine would like to get your financial support, which is inevitable for them, they can't put your companies on the blacklist,” Orban said. “So if you need our money, please respect us and don't sanction our companies.”
Hungary is not known as a major source of donor funds at the EU level. Germany, France, and the Netherlands are the three largest contributors to the EU budget, while Hungary is one of the three largest recipients of EU funds.
A dispute over access to that funding has driven another dispute between Hungary and most of the alliance. EU officials froze Hungary’s funding on the basis that the rule of law has deteriorated in Hungary under Orban, and Orban has joined Turkey in delaying Sweden’s entry into NATO while demanding that Sweden stop criticizing Hungary.
Orban put a more “strategic” cast on the controversy on Tuesday, as he suggested that the dispute stemmed from Hungary’s opposition to the “mainstream” view on China and Russia.
“More and more European countries on the side of the derisking or decoupling [from China] and Hungary is strongly in favor of connection and connectivity,” he said. “The other strategical difference is on [the war in Ukraine] ... the mainstream and the majority think that they can win the war, and [that] there is a battlefield solution. Hungary disagrees with that. So these are the main two strategical differences and the whole ... financial question is just the consequence of these two strategically different approaches.”
Orban made clear that he wants to see China as a “partner” to the West over the long term despite the intensifying rivalry between Washington and Beijing.
“Connectivity is a good thing,” he said. “The export is 80-85% of our GDP, so we are very open country, and we need commercial and trade and political connections. ... So China is a huge opportunity.”
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Nevertheless, the Hungarian leader did little to hide his hope that Trump would win in 2024 beyond a passing acknowledgment that it was “not a good business idea” to criticize the U.S. under Biden.
“The American Democrats are far more ideologically led than the Republicans. And the Democrats always like to convince you, and sometimes force you, how to live, you know, and I don't like it,” he said. “You know, we have our own culture. The culture defines how we live. Don't interfere, please. Don't educate us. Don't say what is good, what is bad. ... We don't like that. It's not your job. It’s not the job of the Americans or any other nation. It's the Hungarian job. That’s what’s important and Donald Trump understands it.”