'Trump Before Trump'

Péter Szijjártó, Hungary's foreign minister, tells how his country was the first to embrace policies now being pursued by the U.S. president

- by PETER AITKEN

HUNGARIAN FOREIGN MINISTER Péter Szijjártó has nothing but praise for Donald Trump, having developed a strong relationship with him during the U.S. president's first administration and seeing only positives from the first month of his second. Touting Hungary's political landscape as "kind of Trump before Trump," he sees the two countries increasingly aligned on policy and world view.

Trump's victory in the 2016 presidential election took Democrats and most European leaders by surprise. The Barack Obama years had provided a sense of political inertia that led many to believe Hillary Clinton's victory in that contest was all but assured. For the nation of Hungary, however, the developments likely seemed quite familiar.

"The policy of European politicians was a total failure.... only direct U.S.Russian talks can end this war."

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, nicknamed the "Strongman" of Europe, held the post between 1998 and 2002, leading a coalition of his right-wing Fidesz party and the Christian Democratic People's Party, or KDNP. When Orbán lost power following the 2002 election, his allies decried the results, claiming election fraud, as the Hungarian Socialist Party, or MSZP, formed a coalition with the Alliance of Free Democrats-Hungarian Liberal Party. Most rejected the fraud claims but Orbán insisted the election had been stolen.

In 2010, however, he returned as prime minister, riding a landslide victory due to supreme dissatisfaction with the incumbent coalition. The likes of Reuters and Politico reported that Orbán had received a "mandate" due to his overwhelming victory, with which he passed a new constitution and fundamentally rewrote the political fabric of his country.