BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) 鈥 Hungary's nationalist Prime Minister, Viktor Orb谩n, said in a sprawling interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson that the only path to ending the war in Ukraine would be the reelection of Donald Trump to the presidency.
In the interview, posted Wednesday on Carlson鈥檚 page on X, formerly known as Twitter, Orb谩n praised Trump's foreign policy while blasting the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden and its approach to the war.
He said that Trump鈥檚 return to office would be 鈥渢he only way out鈥 of the conflict, and that any suggestion that Kyiv could win the war against Russia was 鈥渁 lie.鈥
鈥淭he Russians are far stronger, far more numerous than the Ukrainians,鈥 Orb谩n said. 鈥淐all back Trump. 鈥 Trump is the man who can save the Western world.鈥
The 30-minute video interview, filmed Aug. 21 on the opulent terrace of the prime minister's office overlooking Budapest, was the second in two years between Carlson and the right-wing leader. While visiting Hungary in 2021, Carlson's program on Fox News broadcast for a week from the capital, where he praised Orb谩n's self-styled 鈥渋lliberal democracy鈥 鈥 a system that eschews traditional liberal values in favor of conservative Christian rule 鈥 as a model for the United States to follow.
Orb谩n, in office since 2010, has long been criticized for overseeing an increasingly autocratic political system. The European Union, as well as the U.S. State Department and numerous international observers, have , seized control of the judiciary and media and manipulated the election system to ensure his hold on power.
Yet in the interview, Orb谩n slammed the multiple federal indictments of Trump 鈥 including for allegedly mishandling classified documents and for 鈥 as a misuse of U.S. state power, something he said was unthinkable in Hungary.
鈥淭o use the justice system against the political opponents 鈥 in Hungary, I think it鈥檚 impossible to imagine,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hat was done by the Communists. It鈥檚 a very Communist methodology to do that.鈥
He also bemoaned efforts by Biden's State Department to get Hungary's government to improve its rule-of-law and , saying that despite Hungary being a NATO member and U.S. ally, "we are worse treated than the Russians. What鈥檚 that about?鈥
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Orb谩n's government has maintained its close ties with Moscow, and has threatened to block EU sanctions on Russia.
Known as Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest ally in the EU, Orb谩n has refused to allow the transfer of Western weapons across Hungary's shared border with Ukraine, and called for an immediate cease-fire and peace talks in the conflict, but without providing a vision of what that would mean for Ukraine's territorial integrity.
Since Carlson's last visit to Hungary in 2021, he was ousted by Fox News after the network to settle a lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems over following the 2020 presidential election.
