Bryan Leib, a Senior Fellow for the Budapest-based think tank Center for Fundamental Rights, has recently published a piece for the Daily Caller about the new chapter in US–Hungarian relations under the second Trump administration.
Leib has been a habitual critic of the previous Biden administration for their handling of foreign relations with Hungary. Specifically, he very much disapproved of the work of former US Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman. Prior to the 2024 election, however, the Center’s Leib proclaimed that a victory by President Trump would bring about ‘the golden age of US–Hungary relations’.
That golden age is now here. Leib has recently visited Budapest, Hungary, again to take part in the Central European Summit earlier this month. As he recalled in his piece, he also met with senior officials of the Hungarian government during his visit.
‘Hungary is not looking to pick fights. It’s looking to form mutually beneficial partnerships. If only all of our NATO allies thought the same way as Hungary! Every meeting—whether it was with investors from Hungary’s growing technology sector, leaders in the energy industry, or top government officials—was guided by a single, unifying theme: the urgent need to end the war in Ukraine and restore peace and security to Central Europe.
There was no appetite for more posturing, more escalation, or more foreign finger-pointing. The Hungarian people, and their leaders, are ready to chart a path forward grounded in dialogue, pragmatism, and mutual respect,’ he wrote about his most recent experience in Budapest.
He also pointed out that this is in stark contrast with how the Biden administration, and specifically Ambassador Pressman again, approached foreign diplomatic relations and the current status quo. The former Ambassador would even opine on and try to influence the domestic policies of the Hungarian government in his four-year tenure, the author stressed.
‘The contrast between then and now could not be more striking,’ Leib added in his piece for the Daily Caller.
He went on to state that he did not feel any resentment from the Hungarian side regarding the advisory relations of the past few years; rather, a desire to re-engage based on economic cooperation, energy diversification, regional security, and shared Judeo–Christian values.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and President Donald Trump have had a shared view on the Russo–Ukrainian conflict: that is, prioritizing peace negotiations over military and financial aid. ‘The only leaders I’ve seen making the case for peace are President Trump and Prime Minister Orbán,’ as Leib put it. He also called for increased American investment in Hungary to further strengthen the cooperation between the nations.
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