(AFP) – US President Donald Trump handed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban an exemption from sanctions to keep buying Russian oil on Friday, as the right-wing allies held a chummy White House meeting.
As Orban and Trump heaped praise on each other, the Hungarian nationalist said it would take a “miracle” for Ukraine to beat Moscow, underscoring the gulf between him and other European leaders on the war. Trump, meanwhile, wholeheartedly backed Orban on the touchstone issue of migration, saying that the Hungarian’s European Union counterparts should show him more respect.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto hailed what he called the “major outcome” of the meeting, Orban’s first at the White House since Trump returned to power in January. “The United States has granted Hungary a full and unlimited exemption from sanctions on oil and gas. We are grateful for this decision, which guarantees Hungary’s energy security,” Szijjarto said on X.
Trump had earlier said he would consider giving landlocked Hungary a pass because it has to rely on pipelines, leaving it heavily dependent on Russia despite EU efforts to wean it off. “As you know they don’t have the advantage of having sea,” Trump told reporters.
Orban, who has often bucked the rest of the EU on pressuring Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, pressed his case that Russian energy was vital for his country. “Pipeline is not an ideological or political issue. It’s a physical reality because we don’t have port(s),” Orban said.
Hungary — the closest ally in the European Union of both Trump and the Kremlin — has also offered to host a summit in Budapest between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump called off the summit in October amid growing frustration with Putin’s refusal to end his invasion of Ukraine and slapped Russia’s two biggest oil companies with sanctions.
Washington has given firms who work with Russian oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil one month to cut ties or face secondary sanctions, which would deny them access to US banks, traders, shippers, and insurers.
Experts say the meeting with the US president was expected to give at least a “symbolic” win to Orban, who faces an unprecedented challenge to his 15-year rule ahead of elections next spring amid economic stagnation. Trump told European Union leaders to show more respect to Orban, who has thumbed his nose at them over migration. “I think they should respect Hungary and respect this leader very, very strongly because he’s been right on immigration,” Trump told reporters.
Trump, who has carried out a sweeping crackdown on immigration at home, again alleged a link between migrants and crime, which is not backed up by statistics in the United States. Orban visited his “dear friend” Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida three times last year, but the US president’s return to power has had a mixed effect on Hungary.
Washington has withdrawn sanctions against top Orban aide Antal Rogan and restored the country’s status in a visa waiver scheme. But Trump’s tariffs against the European Union have hit Hungary’s export-oriented car industry hard, contributing to an already weak economy.
Daniel Hegedus, central Europe director at the German Marshall Fund (GMF), had predicted that Trump would show some flexibility on Orban’s request on the oil sanctions. “I expect Trump will give a victory to Orban that he can sell at home and strengthens his position, as the administration actively supports political forces that divide the EU,” he said. Orban — who has refused to send military aid to Ukraine and opposes Kyiv’s EU bid — has had frequent run-ins with Brussels on the rule of law and other issues.
burs-dk/des – Danny Kemp and Shaun Tandon
© 2024 AFP
