Balázs Orbán, the political director of the Hungarian Prime Minister, was hosted by Tucker Carlson, former Fox News anchor and one of the most influential opinion leaders on the American right, during his trip to the US. ‘Behind the scenes with Tucker Carlson. Stay tuned!’ Balázs Orbán wrote on X (formerly Twitter). Mandiner reported that this probably indicates that Carlson, who recently interviewed Russian President Vladimir Putin, has now sat down for a chat with the political director.
Since leaving Fox News last spring, Carlson has been generating huge numbers for his online content, notably for his interviews with various prominent politicians. His interview with Putin just over a month ago has already garnered more than 200 million views. Former US President Donald Trump has also sat down for a chat with him, drawing in more than 260 million viewers on X alone.
Carlson also interviewed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán last August, which, at the time of writing this article, has been viewed by nearly 130 million people. Perhaps the most memorable moment of the interview was when the Hungarian Prime Minister, when asked how to end the war in Ukraine, replied: ‘Call back Trump... Trump is the man who can save the Western world.’
One of the reasons Balázs Orbán travelled to the United States was to present his book Hussar Cut: The Hungarian Strategy for Connectivity, which was published last year in Hungarian and was later translated into English. The book launch took place at the Hungarian Embassy in Washington, D.C.
‘If we want to avoid becoming a periphery and aim to be on the winning side of the 21st century, we can’t adopt a bloc formation mentality. Instead, Hungary should become a hub where everybody meets, exchanges ideas, trades, and has the opportunity to build a prosperous life,’
Balázs Orbán wrote on X in connection with the event.
Furthermore, Balázs Orbán was a guest on the Wall Street Journal's Free Expression podcast, where he discussed the future of the West and Hungary’s unique foreign policy with Gerry Baker. ‘We Hungarians don’t want to live in a Chinese-style political system or a Russian-style political system, but we don’t want to promote our system either. We just want to find our own way to survive,’ Balázs Orbán said in response to a question about whether Hungary’s good relations with Russia and China were contrary to conservative values.
The Prime Minister’s political director’s trip to the US is also aimed at preparing for
Viktor Orbán’s visit to the United States this week.
As reported by Hungarian Conservative, the Hungarian PM will meet Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida on 8 March. The meeting was confirmed by Viktor Orbán last Friday during a panel discussion at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum. Additionally, the Prime Minister will hold a panel discussion with Kevin Roberts, President of the Heritage Foundation, one of the most renowned American conservative think tanks, in Washington on 7 March.
Donald Trump and Viktor Orbán last met in the summer of 2022, when the two held talks at the former President’s golf club in New Jersey. The meeting took place prior to the CPAC conference in Dallas, where Viktor Orbán delivered the opening speech and received a thunderous applause from the audience. The 2022 meeting was attended by Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, Balázs Orbán, and Zsolt Németh, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Hungarian parliament
The current meeting is particularly significant as both Viktor Orbán and Donald Trump are gearing up for pivotal elections.
The European Parliament elections scheduled for 6–9 June will provide right-wing parties with a genuine opportunity, unprecedented in history, to influence the direction of European politics for the next five years. Meanwhile, Donald Trump, having secured consecutive victories in the Republican primaries, is making preparations for his return to the White House.
Related articles:
