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(Bloomberg) — Prime Minister Viktor Orban is looking for an economic boost from his meeting with President Donald Trump next week, as well as assurances that Hungary can be shielded from the impact of US sanctions on Russian oil, according to a senior minister.
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Trump and Orban will sign energy and defense deals as well as economic and financial agreements at a meeting that will take place at the White House on Nov. 7, Cabinet Minister Gergely Gulyas said at a briefing in Budapest on Thursday. He didn’t elaborate.
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Orban, a longtime supporter and ideological ally of the US president, has so far little to show for the economic boom he had envisioned after Trump’s return to power. Instead of a flood of US investments, Hungary, which relies on exports for growth, has had to weather Trump’s protectionist agenda, including US tariffs on European Union goods.
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The nationalist premier needs all the help he can muster after 15 years in power. Data on Thursday showed Hungary’s economy stagnated in the third quarter while Orban’s party is trailing in polls before elections in April.
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Yet the priority at the White House for Orban will be to avert a further economic blow.
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Hungary faces an energy-security risk due to US sanctions introduced last week on Russia’s biggest oil producers, a measure that’s designed to bring President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table over his war on Ukraine.
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Hungary depends on Moscow for the bulk of its oil and gas imports. Unlike many of its EU neighbors, Hungary has ramped up purchases of Russian energy following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
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Before the imposition of sanctions, Orban had sought to convince Trump that Hungary’s landlocked status leaves it no choice but to rely on Russian oil — despite an alternative oil pipeline that connects Hungary to the Adriatic Sea via Croatia.
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US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker has since rejected Budapest’s argument and told Orban’s government to get on with plans to wean itself off Russian energy.
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“Our goal is for President Trump to maintain his position and in this way to exempt Hungary from any US sanctions, allowing Hungary to continue its purchases of Russian crude oil and natural gas,” Gulyas said.
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—With assistance from Marton Kasnyik.
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English (US)