To the Editor:
Meg Hansen's op-ed "America's Right Got Hungary's Viktor Orbán Wrong" (Aug. 22) offers an important corrective to those like me who have viewed Hungary's prime minister as an ally. We thought this because of his bold and welcome stand on issues of great importance, such as limiting illegal migration and standing for traditional Western values.
Ms. Hansen focuses on Hungary's appalling ties to the Chinese Communist Party. She doesn't mention its egregious, nearly neutral stance on the war in Ukraine, in return for cheap energy imports from Vladimir Putin, or its repulsive "enhanced strategic partnership" with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's rogue Türkiye.
American conservatives need to retain their critical facilities. Just because an Orbán or El Salvador's Nayib Bukele shares some of our policies doesn't mean we should admire them, encourage them or ally with them. Let's keep it transactional, not emotional: applaud the good, condemn the bad.
Daniel Pipes
President, Middle East Forum
Philadelphia
 Viktor Orbán (L) and Daniel Pipes, in Budapest in April 2019. |
