The times when Viktor Orban, as a young politician, talked about the liberal reforms gave way to a period of the national-conservative muttering. But the Hungarian Prime Minister is important that ‘ he is not alone. The same rhetoric is heard, for example, from Warsaw, and especially valuable for Budapest, but the same judgment we hear from Moscow, and now — and even from Washington. Tomorrow’s meeting of Viktor Orban Vladimir Putin will again be rather exceptional episode for the EU, and yet this is the first such visit after the arrival of Donald trump in the White house.
Hungarian Prime Minister explains his position clearly. The era of multilateral treaties and negotiations took place, so hail a bilateral agreement. Maybe it is, but who will this change benefit the United States of trump and especially countries the size of Hungary. In the history, including the history of Central Europe, there are many examples of how small and medium-sized countries in the exclusively bilateral relations with the powers were pulling on the short rope end, and victory was always over a large area and power.
Test may be the story with the modernization of the Paks NPP, where construction of two new reactors are planned to be funded on the Russian loan in the amount of ten billion euros. In this case, the most typical of the fact that in the next 30 years of the contract details will remain a secret. By the way, including why the European Commission checks, does not the financing of new reactors to the rules of fair competition.
The meeting in Budapest will be primarily political. Viktor Orban tries to pretend that doesn’t pay attention to all the domestic and foreign criticism, which is directed to its authoritarian habits, including appropriation of public media, because he fancies himself a politician of international format. So Orban and says that he wants to be a mediator between East and West — for example, on the issue of sanctions that were imposed against Russia over the annexation of Crimea and support for separatists in Eastern Ukraine and that Budapest from the very beginning criticized.
However, the fate of the sanctions some will be affected much more than the Hungarian Prime Minister. We are talking about old pictures in the Kremlin and the new people in the White house. Over time, Orban, perhaps, notice that such strong players like Donald trump, and Vladimir Putin, as a rule, do without intermediaries. Orban and Putin share the hope that with the advent of the trump to them better times will come. But if the house the new President promises to “America first”, then where did he take understanding the problems of others? Rather, it appears that to negotiate with one it will be to the detriment of others.
