SEN MITCH McCONNELL: American conservatives’ Hungary obsession ignored US strategic interests

On Sunday, voters in Hungary’s parliamentary elections ousted Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his Fidesz party, as polls consistently predicted. Orban’s immediate concession indicates that power will be transferred peacefully and democratically in the coming days. Most importantly, Hungarians appear unaffected by foreign attempts – both real and imagined – to subvert or manipulate their judgment.

This should come as no surprise to Americans. We, too, are outraged by suggestions that anyone other than our own legal citizens should have a say in our democratic process. Beyond the extreme limits of our politics, there is little evidence that foreign influence campaigns have been very successful in shaping the views of American voters.

America’s own political leaders have traditionally adhered to the idea that politics stops at the water’s edge. They have tried to avoid even the appearance of telling other sovereign democracies how to conduct their domestic affairs, and have resisted the temptation to treat foreign policy as an extension of our domestic politics.

I have not hesitated to call for a departure from these cautious traditions, as have the increasingly obvious ways in which elected Democrats seek to insert themselves into Israel’s vibrant democratic politics. But for much of the last decade, Hungarian politics has remained a focus of intense attention in certain corners of the American right.

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This phenomenon is endlessly confusing. America’s self-proclaimed national conservatives spoke of Orban’s Hungary as an oasis of traditionalism in the wastelands of ailing, liberal and corrupt postmodern Europe. Some American politicians also seem to believe this myth.

To be clear, this is a myth. Orban’s defenders on this side of the Atlantic may see his illiberal courtrooms, crony capitalism, or restrictions on freedom of expression as an acceptable price for the social utopia they desire. For all the talk of revitalizing faith and family through statist intervention, Hungary’s religious participation and birth rates under its rule declined along with the rest of the West.

Frankly, Orban’s fawning attitude towards authoritarians does not reflect American values.

Of course, if any of the breathtaking declarations of Hungary’s unique virtue were true, they would be a reasonable basis for personal affection… but not for U.S. foreign policy. Shared values ​​can be a useful introduction to deeper collaboration with allies and partners. But to the extent that values ​​play a central role in successful U.S. foreign policy, they have served and been consistent with our strategic interests.

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Frankly, Orban’s fawning attitude towards authoritarians does not reflect American values. But far more importantly, his government’s allegiance to Moscow, its desire to be a gateway to Europe for China’s predatory machinations, and its deepening ties with Iran run counter to America’s interests.

Vice President J.D. Vance shakes hands with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban as they meet in Budapest, Hungary, on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (Denes Erdos/AP Photo)

These commitments should be of great importance to American conservatives, who rightly expect European allies to bear a greater share of the burden of deterring threats to our common Western interests.

The Trump administration’s 2025 National Security Strategy observes that America “will need a strong Europe to help us compete successfully” with strategic rivals. But Europe’s tremendous progress towards greater defense burden sharing has come despite Hungary’s defense budget is getting smaller It rose by 6% last year, and Orban actively opposes the European Union’s support for Ukraine. While other allies have reduced their dependence on Russian energy, Orban has doubled Hungary’s dependence on Russian gas. And in 2024, it established a “comprehensive all-weather strategic partnership” with the PRC, America’s leading strategic adversary.

Orban’s Hungary offered America little in the way of strategic alignment, let alone “moral cooperation.” The highest common value between Americans and the people of Hungary today is the right to choose our own leaders freely and fairly, without internal or external interference.

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Of course, American conservatives, who are still particularly concerned about the social structure and moral values ​​of Europe’s 19th largest economy, should take heart: The next Hungarian prime minister is unlikely to turn Budapest into a den of evil or impose sharia law. And I have yet to hear him suggest opening the country’s borders or sacrificing its sovereignty for the sake of the European Union.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban arrived at the EU headquarters in Brussels for the EU Summit on March 19, 2026. (Magali Cohen / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images)

Instead, Hungarian voters were motivated by discontent with crony capitalism and corruption, which were weakening Hungary’s economy and the ruling party’s image. After all, their next prime minister is a product of the ruling party, which is campaigning to address Hungary’s economic woes rather than scapegoating them. I suspect voters in Hungary will also judge his government on whether it can achieve this.

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Watching this from Kentucky, it’s hard to understand why some on the American right think that risking US influence over the outcome of parliamentary elections in the small, central European nation means putting America’s interests first. To the extent that what is happening in Hungary matters to America, the issue is not whether its social policies but whether its actions on the world stage are compatible with America’s strategic interests.

Time will tell the future course of US-Hungary strategic alignment under the new government. But to the extent that Hungary’s next leaders are less subservient to our enemies and more seriously focused on our common interests, Washington may welcome the change.