Mitch McConnell Raises Alarms Over Hungary's Close Ties With China

7 months ago

In remarks on the Senate floor Thursday, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) spoke about Russia and China.

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00:00 On another matter, this week Putin is in Beijing, tending to what Russia and China have called

00:13 a friendship without limits.

00:17 But last week, it was President Xi who took to the road.

00:23 And notably, his warmest welcome was in Budapest, Hungary.

00:32 The visit from PRC's leader came as more of our European NATO allies are waking up,

00:39 not only to the harsh reality of Russian aggression, but also to the linked threats facing Western

00:46 security and prosperity to the urgent requirements of defense production, and to the particular

00:55 challenge the PRC poses as a systemic rival.

01:02 But Hungary?

01:04 Not so much.

01:07 Viktor Orban's government has cultivated the PRC as its top trading partner outside

01:15 the EU.

01:16 It has given Beijing sweeping law enforcement authorities to hunt dissidents on Hungarian

01:25 soil.

01:26 It was the first European country to join Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative, which

01:32 other European governments, for example, like Prime Minister Meloni's in Italy, have wisely

01:38 decided to leave.

01:42 And Hungary has doubled down on Huawei.

01:45 After the previous U.S. administration went to great lengths to encourage Europe to reject

01:51 it, Hungary has let the PRC communications giant bake Chinese technology into the country's

01:59 5G expansion, even as other European nations are paying vast sums to extract Huawei from

02:10 their communications infrastructure.

02:15 Hungary is now home to Huawei's European regional logistics hub, a veritable gateway to the

02:22 West.

02:25 And last week, Prime Minister Orban's government signed 19 more agreements with the PRC, from

02:33 transportation infrastructure to potential nuclear cooperation.

02:40 A joint statement described the two countries' relationship as, quote, "an all-weather comprehensive

02:48 strategic partnership."

02:50 That's between Hungary and the PRC.

02:54 But the details of China's growing influence in Budapest should raise red plugs for anyone

03:01 seriously concerned about strategic competition with China.

03:08 From across the Atlantic, there's good reason to appreciate a European government that's

03:14 willing to question EU orthodoxy on things like short-sighted climate change policy or

03:20 swim upstream in defense of conservative values.

03:26 But here in Washington, we're obliged to evaluate whether allies and partners share our interests,

03:34 not just our values.

03:37 And whatever their plot in dealings with EU bureaucrats in Brussels, Hungary's leaders

03:45 have cozied up to America's greatest strategic adversary.

03:50 Now, it's one thing that a latter-day Walter Durante, who shields for Putin on Twitter,

03:59 might also admire the only NATO member whose leader flies to Moscow to pay obeisance to

04:08 the Russian dictator.

04:11 But Hungary's willingness to serve as China's doormat to Europe, that part is tougher to

04:18 square with the position of folks in Washington, for whom singular focus on China has recently

04:27 become an article of faith.

04:32 The Democratic Party's increasing willingness to abandon Israel cries out for frequent and

04:39 heavy doses of reality and harsh criticism.

04:43 Unfortunately, so does this increasingly muddled logic on the threats facing the West from

04:51 Russia and China.

04:54 A NATO government that fawns over a Russian neo-Soviet imperialist, a European nation

05:05 that rolls out the red carpet for greater predation, coercion, and espionage from a

05:11 communist regime.

05:14 This isn't where America should be taking our foreign policy cues.

05:20 How about sending a high-profile diplomat and trade mission to Tehran, Hungary's voluntary

05:29 legitimization of the world's most active state sponsor of terrorism?

05:36 I don't think conservatives had any time for those who suck up to Iran.

05:43 Maybe aligning with autocrats is in Hungary's interest, but let's return from Budapest and

05:49 discuss what's in America's interest.

05:53 America has an interest in strong allies who are willing to pull more of the weight of

05:58 collective defense in the face of threats from Russia, Iran, and China.

06:06 And we could have welcomed two more such allies to our ranks much sooner, if not for Oregon's

06:12 obstruction of Sweden and Finland's access to NATO.

06:20 Not only do these countries have robust defense industries and capable militaries, they also

06:27 each have companies that offer safer alternatives to Chinese 5G technology.

06:36 And while many of us in Washington were urging the EU to do more to support Ukraine, Hungary

06:42 was blocking greater EU burden sharing.

06:48 Frankly, Mr. President, Hungary stands at the crossroads of three powers bent on undermining

06:59 our security and prosperity.

07:03 And the Orban government is modeling what not to do in the face of these challenges.

07:10 My message to America's European allies has been the same, no matter their politics or

07:17 their culture.

07:19 Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea are working together to undermine us.

07:27 And we need to move faster to rebuild the hard power we need to deter and defeat aggression

07:33 and hold one another accountable to share the burden of collective defense.

07:40 There's plenty of work left to do on this front.

07:43 [BLANK_AUDIO]

Mitch McConnell Raises Alarms Over Hungary's Close Ties With China

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