American-Hungarian bilateral relations can only move upwards from the current low point, in all areas.
In addition to the names that have appeared in the press so far, there are many more candidates for the post of American ambassador in Budapest - stated Csaba Faragó, head of foreign affairs at the Századvég Foundation, in an interview. Optimism is justified, as a uniquely successful phase of Hungarian-American cooperation may come, but even so, Hungary can easily find itself in the crossfire of great power games, according to the expert.
With the impending departure of the outgoing US ambassador David Pressman, there is growing interest in the question of who the US president-elect Donald Trump can appoint to the vacant post. Instead of speculating about the identity of the future ambassador of the United States in Budapest, it is worth focusing on what we can know even without knowing the name.
In the selection of the future ambassador, it can be an advantage if he has more than a superficial knowledge of our country, but this aspect alone will not decide the selection, because in the case of a head of mission, the most important thing is to represent the interests of his own country at his current station.
There is a good chance that after David Pressman, instead of a career diplomat, a politically appointed ambassador will once again head the US embassy in Budapest, this time with a strong Republican embeddedness.
According to Csaba Faragó, despite this, we do not need to worry that the future American ambassador would want to interfere in the internal politics of our country, and he is also optimistic that whoever is chosen will show a constructive attitude towards Hungary and strive for a high-quality partnership with Budapest.
"Regarding personal speculations, I do not indulge in speculations, but it is worth pointing out that there are many more possible names behind the scenes than what has appeared in the press so far. I believe that American-Hungarian bilateral relations can only move upwards from the current low point, in all areas.
Throughout history, the Hungarian side has never managed to start cooperation with the current American government from such a favorable position, so we can look to the future with optimism.
The contrast with the period marked by the name of David Pressman will certainly be enormous. We also need to see that in the past five years, enormous progress has been made in the cooperation between Hungarian and American conservative background institutions and think tanks, which also predicts a promising future for bilateral intergovernmental relations," said the head of Századvég's foreign affairs.
With President Trump taking office, the tensions between the European Union and the United States in the field of trade policy and defense spending may increase, in connection with which, according to the expert, it is worth making ourselves aware that we will not be able to stay out of the game of the big ones, the relationship between Brussels and Washington towards each EU member state , so it will also affect Hungary.
"Nevertheless, never in history have we had such a good chance to be able to positively influence the relationship between the world's two largest economic superpowers within a certain scale, according to our own interests.
It would be a mistake on the part of Brussels to renounce the lobbying power of the Hungarian government and the Hungarian Prime Minister.
Regular, even daily, dialogue is very important in bilateral relations. Common values and common interests determine the basis of future joint work. The first milestone will be January 20, 2025, when the Trump administration takes office.
For meaningful progress, the high-quality work and diplomatic efforts of the future American ambassador in Budapest will be greatly needed. It is in the fundamental interest of both parties that the new ambassador gets to work as soon as possible. The more important an ambassadorship is to the US administration, the sooner a decision is usually made to fill the position. Another important milestone could be the visit of the American president to Hungary, the last example of which was nearly twenty years ago, during the 2006 visit of American President George W. Bush. The first half of Trump's new presidential term may prove to be the most ideal for conducting the visit," said the expert.
Csaba Faragó highlighted the importance of a recent public opinion poll published by Századvég, in which the population of Hungary was asked, in a representative sample of 1,000 people, what the citizens think about the latest developments in the war and the possibility of creating peace.
77 percent of Hungarians trust President Trump and the new administration to end the Russian-Ukrainian war and bring peace in 2025. Thanks to this, the president-elect is probably the most popular foreign politician in our country: every second Hungarian has a favorable opinion of Donald Trump, while at the same time only 44 percent of us expressed an unfavorable opinion of him.
Cover photo: Donald Trump receives Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in Mar-a-Lago, Florida in the photo published by the Prime Minister's Press Office
Source: MTI/Prime Minister's Press Office/Zoltán Fischer
