Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on September 21 endorsed U.S. President Donald Trump in his reelection bid, saying his rivals from the Democratic Party have forced "moral imperialism" on the world.
"We root for Donald Trump's victory, because we know well American Democratic governments' diplomacy, built on moral imperialism. We have been forced to sample it before, we did not like it, we do not want seconds," Orban wrote in an article published in the Magyar Nemzet daily.
Right-wing nationalist Orban faces parliamentary elections in early 2022 amid a steep challenge to his decade-long rule as Hungary braces for the economic and social impact of a second wave of coronavirus infections.
Orban wrote that the 2022 elections would be decisive as the international liberal elite was out to destroy Christian conservatives in Europe.
Hungary and other Central European countries would place economic efficiency over European Union policies such as "climate goals elevated to absurdity, a social Europe, a common tax code, and a multicultural society", he said.
EU member Hungary’s democracy score has been on a steep decline in the past decade, according to Freedom House.
In its latest Nations In Transit report published in May, Freedom House singled out Hungary as having the largest drop ever recorded in the 25 years since the nonprofit organization, largely funded by the U.S. government, published its first assessment.
The report describes Orban as a leader who has "dropped any pretense of respecting democratic institutions."
Press freedoms in particular have been in decline in Hungary since Orban returned to power in 2010. In recent years, many independent news outlets have either gone out of business or have been bought up by Orban allies.
