U.S. prepares sanctions against Hungarian PM associates
Adopting the Global Magnitsky Act, the sanctions can take the form of asset freezes for funds held in the U.S., bans on visas for travelling to the United States.
Two other close associates of Orbán are also in sight of the U.S. administration. One of them is István Tiborcz, the PM’s son-in-law who is infamous for his shady lighting deals with the government that were cheeky enough (worth about EUR 40 million) for the EU’s anti-fraud agency (OLAF) to lunge into action.
The other person is Antal Rogán, head of the PM’s Cabinet Office and basically the government’s propaganda minister.
While none of the aforementioned people replied to the portal’s inquiries, government spokesman Zoltán Kovács responded that Mészáros is not corrupt, and the sanctions are propagated by the liberal members of the U.S. administration and Congress. “How could you impose sanctions on somewhat that did nothing wrong?," he replied to the portal’s inquiry.
Átlátszó also underlined that as President Donald Trump is now trying to remain on friendly terms with the Orbán cabinet therefore the sanctions will probably not get cleared by the White House.
The WSJ said, citing people familiar with the matter, that the sanctions are readied amid worries the Central European state is a growing liability for Western interests. The administration is choosing to stand pat for now in the hopes it can still persuade Orbán to deliver on longstanding security promises and remain the Western fold, those people said.
President Trump has welcomed Orbán in the Oval Office on Monday and praised the Hungarian PM for his actions, saying Orbán has done a “tremendous job" keeping his country safe.
Not everyone in Washington is happy about the Trump-Orbán “bromance", though. Last week, four U.S. Senators wrote a letter to the President, asking him to raise the “downward democratic trajectory and the implications for U.S. interests in Central Europe" at his meeting with Orbán.
[...] Hungary has experienced a steady corrosion of freedom, the rule of law and quality of governance according to virtually any indicator. [...] Under Orban, the election process has become less competitive and the judiciary is increasingly controlled by the state. Press Freedom has declined as advertisers have been strongly discouraged from placing ads in independent outlets and ownership has been consolidated under a foundation that is exempt from antitrust regulation
, they wrote.They also expressed concerns about Budapest’s close ties with Moscow, the relocation of the International Investment Bank (IIB) from Moscow to the Hungarian capital city, Hungary’s rejection of a request to extradite two arms dealers to the U.S., and the “golden visa" system (i.e. residency bond programme). Nine members of Congress urged Trump in a letter not to meet with Orbán.
Prime Minister Orbán represents so many things that are antithetical to core American values. He has overseen a rollback of democracy in his country, used anti-Semitic and xenophobic tropes in his political messaging, and cozied up to Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin. He has also suppressed independent media and academic freedom in an effort to consolidate his increasingly autocratic rule. It troubles us to see the President of our country, which has historically supported the protection and promotion of democracy and human rights worldwide, meeting with a man who so regularly disregards these values
, they wrote.Investigative journalism site Direkt36 reported that as a result of the visit to Washington, the Orbán cabinet could take decisions that favour the U.S. in terms of gas purchases and military deals. In exchange, Trump could raise the issue of Hungary’s good relationship with Russia and China, especially because he is currently in a serious trade conflict with Beijing.
The shares of companies linked to Lőrinc Mészáros dropped sharply on Wednesday morning on the Budapest Stock Exchange (BSE), while the BUX was up 0.6%. Opus is currently down 2.5%, Konzum shed 1.7%, Appeninn is 3.3% lower than its closing level on Tuesday and 4iG fell 2.7% (but it was 5.9% lower earlier today).
