Orban’s election loss a blow to Trump but a victory for Hungary

OPINION:

The greatest loser in the Hungarian parliamentary elections Monday was not the prime minister, Viktor Orban, but rather the American president, Donald Trump.

The loss of Mr. Orban’s ultraconservative Fidesz party majority in the parliament had been anticipated for weeks. After serving 16 years as Hungary’s leader, Mr. Orban had lost the support of voters fed up with their leader’s affection for Russian President Vladimir Putin, his refusal to support the valiant Ukrainian resistance to Russian invasion and his hostility toward the European Union and NATO.

Now, the parliament will vote into office the somewhat less conservative Peter Magyar, dedicated to cleaning up corruption and supporting the European Union and NATO while remaining on talking terms with Russia.

“We will negotiate,” Mr. Magyar has said. “But we won’t become friends.”

Mr. Trump evidently thought so highly of Mr. Orban that he believed the man’s party could win enough seats to give him a fifth term. Mr. Orban had triumphed in the previous election four years ago with an agenda that Mr. Trump loved, beginning with a vow to block the migrants crossing borders almost everywhere else in Europe.

So obsessive was Mr. Trump about Mr. Orban that he went to the shocking extent of inserting himself into the process by sending Vice President J.D. Vance, along with second lady Usha Vance, in a fruitless bid to win votes for Mr. Orban’s party.

This show of support — including a speech by Mr. Vance at a campaign rally and a phone hookup to the White House in which Mr. Trump told the crowd how important it was to vote for Mr. Orban — did no good.

In fact, Mr. Trump’s enthusiasm for Mr. Orban may have had the reverse effect. Why on earth were the American president and vice president inserting themselves so blatantly into the internal politics of the world’s 96th most populous country, with just shy of 10 million people?

Is it common policy for American presidents to intrude into foreign elections? Will Mr. Trump next stump for Nigel Farage, leading the ultraconservative charge in Britain against the Labor Party leader, Prime Minister Keir Starmer?

Mr. Trump’s apparently boundless affection for Mr. Orban is even more embarrassing when one considers that he did it amid a war against Iran. It’s not at all clear what Mr. Trump hopes to do in Iran, but whatever choices he makes will be flawed.

Should American ground forces invade the country, fighting a long war against the Islamic fanatics who are still in charge despite the deaths of many of their leaders in American and Israeli bombings? Or should American ships and planes limit themselves to enforcing safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz? Whatever choices Mr. Trump makes, the war will likely continue.

Messrs. Orban and Trump betray their NATO allies by cozying up to Mr. Putin, a onetime Soviet intelligence officer whose goal in Ukraine is to recover the glory days of harsh Soviet rule.

Mr. Orban played into Mr. Putin’s hands by refusing to aid Ukraine and using his veto power to obstruct EU programs, notably those for aiding member countries and Ukraine.

Mr. Magyar is pro-EU and against paying homage to Mr. Putin. He won’t deliberately play into Mr. Putin’s hands. Nor will he be as authoritarian as Mr. Orban, whose repression of free speech gave rise to the impassioned opposition against him.

At 45, Mr. Magyar has time on his side, and he will no doubt begin by cleaning up the corruption that has flourished under Mr. Orban’s rule.

For Messrs. Trump and Vance, the outcome of this week’s election in Hungary was worse than humiliating. It was a stunning rejection of a disgraceful attempt by American leaders to descend into the politics of a small country just because Mr. Trump decided he liked its leader.

It is customary for the president to congratulate the victor in a national election in which he has taken such an interest. It would be good to think that Mr. Trump is drafting congratulation to Mr. Magyar.

He might also consider apologizing for supporting a man whose close relationship with Moscow was antithetical to democracies worldwide.

• Donald Kirk is a former Far East correspondent for the Chicago Tribune and the old Washington Star.