Remarks of Ambassador David Pressman

As Delivered

Hungary’s Gambling Problem

Good evening and welcome to the United States Ambassador’s residence. It’s really a privilege to have you. You know, when I initially thought of having a reception this evening, I suggested to my staff that we do so when the polls close in the United States, which is 3am local here in Budapest. And they sort of glared at me with a cynical glare I usually get from Hír TV, who I think is here somewhere in the room. And then I was reading an article in the press and saw that most of the U.S. European embassies were not having a traditional election celebration reception because – the article reported – out of fear of “awkwardness”. And I thought to myself, well, I’m the United States Ambassador to Hungary, so I’m quite familiar with “awkwardness”. So here we are.

It was important for us to gather here in this building because it represents the United States, our relationship with Hungary, and the values that we share with the people of this country.  In fact, you can see at the back of the room a photo of former President George H.W. Bush with a young Viktor Orbán in this very room 35 years ago.  That photo was taken at a time of great promise in the future of the partnership between the United States and Hungary in those heady days at the end of the Cold War.  It was a relic of a different time.

It was the promise of democracy that brought our leaders together on that evening, and we gather again in this room tonight to celebrate democracy.

When we sent your invitations to this event, we did not yet know who would be elected the next President of the United States.  Tonight, you were invited to a celebration of democracy – not a celebration of a particular candidate’s victory.  While you might have thought that I would prepare two versions of this speech, there was only ever one version, with one message, regardless of who won:  democracy must be protected, by our leaders and by our peoples, because it is sacred, fragile, and because it is the basis of the bonds between the people of Hungary and the United States.

In a democracy, elections matter.  But they are only truly meaningful when they are competitive.  And this election was most certainly that.  Voters had a clear choice between competing candidates with extraordinarily different visions for America, and America’s role in the world.  We have seen a vigorous public debate of both.

I always take pride in the fact that as a senior national security official of the United States government, I don’t do politics.  For those of you who asked me my thoughts and predictions tonight, each of you heard the same answer:  I represent the United States of America, not a political party within it, and I don’t comment on partisan politics, ever.  Because we believe that our foreign policy – our predictability as a partner and an ally – is best served by a nonpartisan approach to national security policymaking.  We swear an oath not to a person, not to a government, but to a constitution.  To something far greater than any individual, any leader, any party.

No one who has followed my service representing the United States of America in Hungary would accuse me of being afraid to speak clearly about things that matter.  I can assure you that won’t change tonight.  Because the consequences of this election – for America, America’s role in the world, and for our shared future – cannot be underestimated. Two candidates with very different views competed for support.

In addition to deciding the next President of the United States, something else that also matters greatly has changed over the course of this election:  Hungary’s relationship with the United States.  And that is where I will focus my remarks, because that is why we are here.

Prime Minister Orbán treated this election like a card game at a casino.  And he placed a very big bet.  Whether he believes that he won or lost this hand, he was gambling not with money but with the U.S.-Hungary relationship.  A relationship that has been altered by his gamesmanship.  The damage caused runs deeper than a four-year term of a President, because it is rooted in an impulse to transform something big and lasting, a relationship between Allies – between strong nations – into something smaller and fleeting.

For the past several years, Hungary’s Prime Minister has told his people that seemingly all of their problems would go away when one political party wins one election … in another country.  Were you to believe him, you might think his gamble on American politics was a good bet.  Go all in on one foreign political ally and if he wins, you win big – or so the story goes.  So Prime Minister Orbán chose to take his alliance with the United States of America into a casino – and he let it ride.

But staking something big and permanent on something finite and temporary isn’t just risky.  It’s reckless.  And, win or lose the hand, it comes with a cost.  It’s staking Hungary’s future on someone else’s election, putting Hungary’s fate in the hands of non-Hungarians.  It is gambling with the alliance that secures your safety, like a stack of chips in a game of poker.  But the chips this country’s leaders are playing with are not theirs alone.

Ultimately, it was Hungary’s relationship with its allies that was wagered. Win or lose a single hand, do you really think that the choice to make this bet will not affect how the United States, over the long term, understands Hungary’s commitments, to its Allies, to the Alliance, to the United States?  Hungary’s government has a gambling problem.  Even if it feels it has won this bet.  And Hungary’s Allies see that.

Unfortunately, the consequences of this gambling problem have been accumulating for a while.

Over the past eight months, eight United States senators have visited Hungary, seeking to engage the Hungarian government.  They represented both political parties – including six senior Republicans.  They came here – like President George H.W. Bush did so many years before – to offer the partnership and support of the United States, and to speak clearly and honestly about our relationship.  But the Hungarian government refused to meet with any of them.  Because the government knew what they would hear from these distinguished Republican Senators: unified and bipartisan concern about Hungary’s policies and actions. When a government has grown accustomed to not having to face competition or questions or criticism domestically, is it any wonder that they shy away from difficult conversations, even with their allies?  Whatever the government’s reason, this was the result:  Eight U.S. Senators came to engage the Hungarian government.  But the Hungarian government was busy playing the odds at the casino.

And just last week, as ambassadors from Hungary’s NATO allies gathered to discuss the security implications for the Alliance of Hungary’s economic “neutrality” policy, the Hungarian government was nowhere to be found.  Its Foreign Minister was busy preparing to spend the next day with his Russian and Syrian counterparts…in Belarus.  We can speculate on the reason, but again, this was the result:  Hungary’s allies gathered to engage the Hungarian government.  But there was no one to engage, they were busy spinning the wheel and hedging until, well, today.

The gamesmanship is not new.  On my very first day in Hungary, when I stepped off the airplane from the United States, the government sent an unusually junior official to greet me.  I didn’t notice.  It was an attempted slight that went totally unnoticed by the United States, but speaks volumes about the grandiose smallness of Hungary’s approach to its allies.  The Hungarian government may think snubs are “wins,” but we don’t treat our relationship like a game.  We aren’t playing.  Prime Minister Orbán’s allies continue to land at the Budapest airport – whether United States Ambassadors or United States Senators – ready to engage our Ally on serious issues in our relationship, but the Hungarian government has been too busy hedging rather than doing the work.  Such small games are beneath a great country that gave the world principled icons like Kossuth and Széchenyi.

Whether the Hungarian government thinks it “won” or “lost” these hands — or its reckless gamble on an election that could have gone either way – the Hungarian people must recognize what has been lost in placing these bets to begin with.  Because the act of gambling a relationship incurs a cost of its own, regardless of the outcome.

An alliance between nations is bigger than any single election, any single Prime Minister, any single President.  It is a lasting investment in the shared fate and future of our countries.  To be maintained, it needs to transcend the political ups and downs.  In other words, it needs to be bigger than politics.  An alliance isn’t a casino; it exists to protect us against risk, not to court it.  It demands more serious treatment than bluffs, gambles, hedges, or spins of the wheel.  Gambling with our alliance, in the long run, will always be a losing proposition.

Fundamentally, our countries and their futures are bound together because we are Allies, and we are allies because we trust each other.  Alliances are based on longstanding commitments and lasting trust.  They are the very opposite of a risky bet.  No relationship, no alliance – between our people or nations – can for long survive and thrive when a gambling problem masquerades as a clever strategy, when reckless disregard supplants trust.

So tonight, at this celebration of democracy, in the same room where your Prime Minister once sat with my President to dream of a shared democratic, prosperous, secure, and free Hungary, let’s remember that a vibrant democracy only remains such if its people – and their leaders — value and protect it.  The same is true of an alliance.

For those of us who care about Hungary and the United States, and the relationship between the two; for those of us who care about our Alliance and its success; for those of us who care about democracy and are committed to its advancement, there is only one way forward:  our leaders, our peoples must value what we have and protect it, lest we lose it.  Because the many challenges before us demand that we face them together, not recklessly, but reliably and respectfully, as Allies.

While our election will certainly change the United States, the Hungarian people should understand that it will not change Hungary.  I know American elections matter beyond our borders, but they do not determine your destiny – you do.  This is, fundamentally, what it means to be a democracy.  It is fundamentally what unites our countries.  And I hope that it always will.

Thank you very much and good evening.