00:00U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest
00:06on Monday as he continued his tour of Central Europe to bolster ties with Trump allies in
00:11the region. The meeting came a day after the U.S. and Hungary signed an energy cooperation
00:16agreement which was hailed as the golden age of their bilateral ties. Rubio's visit comes at a
00:23crucial time as Hungary prepares to head to the ballot boxes in what is seen as a consequential
00:28general election in mid-April. Trump has already endorsed Orban in the upcoming race,
00:33touting him as a strong leader who puts Hungary's benefit above all. Rubio was asked to comment on
00:40the future of U.S.-Hungary relations in the event of Orban's loss, who has been trailing in national
00:45polls. The president has an extraordinarily close relationship to the prime minister. He does,
00:50and it has had tangible benefits in our relationship. I'm not going to speculate about
00:54the future. You know, what happens in this country is up to the voters of this country
00:58to determine and decide. And we love the people of Hungary. But I'm not, but there's no reason
01:02to sugarcoat it. I'm going to be very blunt with you. The prime minister and the president
01:06have a very, very close personal relationship and working relationship. And I think it has
01:11been incredibly beneficial to the relationship between our two countries.
01:14I'm the longest-serving leader of the opposition with 16 years, you know. So I spent 16 years as
01:22leader of opposition. What does it mean? It means that sometimes I lose, sometimes I win.
01:26So don't afraid what will be if we are not winning, because it's regularly happened here,
01:32at least four times already. So there is no need to be afraid what will happen in Hungary.
01:37The Hungarian democracy is very strong.
01:40Leader of the main opposition, Peter Magyar, responded to these remarks,
01:44extending an invite to Rubio on the 23rd of October, when the country celebrates the 70th
01:50anniversary of the 1956 revolution. The Tija party president noted that the top U.S. diplomat
01:57will however be, quote, greeted by a different Orban, Anita Orban, Tija's future foreign minister.
Comments