Gergely Gulyas – Photo: MTI

Gulyas: Government seeking ‘alliance, pragmatic ties’ with US Democrats

The Hungarian government is "trying to cooperate with the incumbent Democrat administration of the United States as an ally, in a pragmatic way," the head of the Prime Minister's Office said in Washington, DC, late on Wednesday, but added that the Hungarian endeavours were "not always met with openness".

Speaking to Hungarian public media, Gulyas said that, at the same time, US Republicans “could be considered Hungary’s friends, who think that the successful, conservative government in Hungary could serve as a good example even to them.” He suggested that in case of a “political change” in the US, bilateral ties “could improve a lot” under a conservative US administration. He added, however, that “the will of Americans must be respected” and “whoever is on government, we will try and cooperate”.

Gulyas said Europe’s conservative parties “have abandoned a lot of what they used to represent for decades … in that sense, ideologically, the Republican Party is a lot closer to us, whether it is the gender issue or family policy … we see eye to eye with the Republican Party in those issues.”

Concerning the war in Ukraine, Gulyas said the Republican majority opinion called for an early ceasefire and peace talks. That position is shared by “the currently most popular Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump,” he added.

Referring to the legal proceedings against the former president, Gulyas said it was a “new development” in the US “to use criminal law against a former president and the forerunner for the Republican presidential candidacy over cases which have already been investigated a lot.” He said, however, that “I don’t want to follow the current practices of the US administration and interfere with the domestic affairs of other countries … we hope that America offers the possibility of procedures under the rule of law,” but added that “it seems that these procedures and their timing might be politically motivated.”

During his visit, Gulyas met Republican senators and congressmen, as well as the heads of research institutes.

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