Orban

Nov. 7 (UPI) — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán visited the White House Friday for a summit with President Donald Trump and lavished praise on the president while disparaging former President Joe Biden.

“The reason why we are here, to open a new chapter between the bilateral relation between the United States and Hungary basically because during the Democrat administration everything was rigged,” Orbán said, according to The Hill.

“Everything was basically broke, ruined, cancelled. A lot of harm done by the previous administration,” he said. “You’ve improved the bilateral relationship. You repaired what was done badly by the previous administration, so now we are in quite a good position to open up a new chapter. Let’s say a golden age between the United States and Hungary.”

Orbán wants Trump to come to Budapest and to meet with Russia President Vladimir Putin about the Ukraine war. Trump has already canceled one meeting, saying he didn’t want to “have a waste of time.”

Orbán also came to the White House to ask Trump to give Hungary an exception to the sanctions on buying Russian oil. The president said he might exempt Hungary from those sanctions.

He also called on European leaders to be more respectful of Orbán, who has faced battles with them over migration, democracy and rule of law.

“I think they should respect Hungary and respect this leader very, very strongly because he’s been right on immigration,” Trump said.

Hungary claims it must buy Russian oil because it has no other viable source.

“We’re looking at it because it’s very difficult for him to get the oil and gas from other areas,” Trump said. “It’s a big country, but they don’t have sea. They don’t have the ports. And so they have a difficult problem.”

He also accused other European countries of buying Russian oil and gas. They “don’t have those problems, and they buy a lot of oil and gas from Russia. And, as they know, I’m very disturbed by that.”

Trump and Orbán are both conservative leaders who share similar values, including a dislike of immigration.

“Look what’s happened to Europe with the immigration. They have people flooding Europe,” Trump said. “You go to some of the countries, they’re unrecognizable now because of what they’ve done. And Hungary is very recognizable.”

Orbán defended his migration policies, blaming Europe.

“This is the absurd world we are living in now in Europe,” Orbán said. “We are the only government in Europe which considers itself as a Christian government. All the other governments in Europe are basically liberal leftist governments.”

In September, Trump lifted travel restrictions against Hungarians, readmitting them to the Visa Waiver program. Biden had added restrictions against Hungarians when he learned that Budapest was granting Hungarian citizenship without adequate security measures.

The Guardian reported that at Friday’s meeting, Orbán was expected to try to set up another meeting between the two leaders not only to broker peace in Ukraine, but to also boost his own standing as a statesman.

Citing insiders, the news outlet said the far-right leader is facing stiff opposition ahead of April’s parliamentary elections, and a visit from Trump would potentially boost support among conservatives.

“Orbán wants Trump to come to Budapest before the elections,” an unnamed source working in the Hungarian government told The Guardian. “This is a top priority. They will discuss the Russian gas issue, but the thing Orbán cares about the most is the elections.”

In a post on X on Thursday, Orbán said Trump’s first 10 months back in office have repaired the relationship between the United States and Hungary. He said the Biden administration damaged that relationship through “politically motivated sanctions.”

“Our goal is to establish a strategic partnership that includes energy cooperation, investments, defense collaboration, and discussions on the post-war landscape following the Russia-Ukraine conflict,” Orbán wrote.

“We are working on an agreement based on mutual benefits — one that serves the interests of every Hungarian citizen.”

Trump told reporters last week that Orbán wants an exemption from the oil and gas sanctions.

“We haven’t granted one, but he has asked,” Trump said aboard Air Force One. “He’s a friend of mine. He’s asked for an exemption.”

WASHINGTON — President Trump said on Friday he’s considering granting Hungary an exemption from U.S. sanctions on Russian energy as he sat down with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán at the White House. “We’re looking at it because its very difficult for him to get the oil and gas from other areas,” Trump said.

Orbán said it’s a “vital” issue for his landlocked country, and said he planned to discuss with Trump the “consequences for the Hungarian people” if the sanctions took effect.

In comments on Friday, Orbán said he would present Trump with several “suggestions” for implementing an exemption.

“I’m not asking for some kind of gift from the Americans or some kind of unusual thing. I am simply asking for the realization that the sanctions recently imposed on Russian energy puts certain countries like Hungary, which do not have access to the sea, in an impossible situation,” Orbán said on state radio. “I’m going to ask the president to acknowledge that.”

A large delegation of cabinet members, business leaders and numerous right-wing political influencers with close connections to Hungary’s government accompanied Orbán to Washington. The delegation rented a 220-passenger commercial jet from Hungarian carrier Wizz Air for the journey.

Prior to Orbán’s arrival on Thursday, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduced a resolution calling on Hungary to end its dependence on Russian energy.

The resolution was co-signed by 10 senators including Republicans Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Chuck Grassley of Iowa, as well as Democrats Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Chris Coons of Delaware. It “expresses concern that Hungary has shown no sign of reducing its dependence on Russian fossil fuels,” and urges Budapest to adhere to a European Union plan to cease all Russian energy imports into the bloc by the end of 2027.

“Europe has made extraordinary progress cutting its energy ties with Moscow, but Hungary’s actions continue to undermine collective security and embolden the Kremlin,” Shaheen wrote in a statement. The resolution, she continued, “sends a clear message that when it comes to buying Russian energy, all allies should be held to the same standard, and that includes Hungary.”

On Friday, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Washington that he will sign a bilateral nuclear energy cooperation agreement with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to Hungarian state news agency MTI.

The deal will involve Hungary’s first-ever purchases of American nuclear fuel, which it currently buys from Russia, and introduce U.S. technology for the on-site storage of spent fuel at Hungary’s Paks nuclear plant. The agreement will also include cooperation on small modular reactors.

After arriving in Washington, Orbán and some of his top officials met with Eduardo Bolsonaro, the son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who in September was sentenced to 27 years in prison for plotting a coup after an election loss. Orbán posted on social media: “We stand firmly with the Bolsonaros in these challenging times — friends and allies who never give up. Keep fighting: political witch-hunts have no place in democracy, truth and justice must prevail!”

Megerian and Spike write for the Associated Press. Spike reported from Budapest

STOCKHOLM — Hungarian writer László Krasznahorkai, whose philosophical, bleakly funny novels often unfold in single sentences, won the Nobel Prize in literature Thursday for his “compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art.”

The Nobel judges praised his “artistic gaze which is entirely free of illusion, and which sees through the fragility of the social order combined with his unwavering belief in the power of art,” Steve Sem-Sandberg of the Nobel committee said at the announcement.

“László Krasznahorkai is a great epic writer in the Central European tradition that extends through (Franz) Kafka to Thomas Bernhard, and is characterized by absurdism and grotesque excess,” the Nobel judges said.

The work that won the Nobel Prize in literature

Zsuzsanna Varga, a Hungarian literature expert at the University of Glasgow, said Krasznahorkai’s apocalyptic and surreal novels probe the “utter hopelessness of the condition of human existence,” while also managing to be “incredibly funny.”

Varga said Krasznahorkai’s near-endless sentences made his books the “Hotel California” of literature – once readers get into it, “you can never leave.”

Other books include “The Melancholy of Resistance,” a surreal, disturbing tale set in a small Hungarian town, and “Baron Wenckheim’s Homecoming,” the sprawling saga of a gambling-addicted aristocrat.

Several works, including his debut, “Satantango,” and “The Melancholy of Resistance” were turned into films by Hungarian director Béla Tarr.

Varga suggested readers new to Krasznahorkai’s work start with “Satantango,” his debut, which set the tone for what was to follow.

“Satan who is dancing a tango — I mean, how surreal can you be?” she said.

Krasznahorkai has also written several books inspired by his travels to China and Japan, including “A Mountain to the North, a Lake to the South, Paths to the West, a River to the East,” published in Hungarian in 2003.

How Krasznahorkai came to win

Sem-Sandberg said that Krasznahorkai had been on the Nobel radar for some time, “and he has been writing and creating one outstanding work after another.” He called his literary output “almost half a century of pure excellence.”

Krasznahorkai, 71, couldn’t immediately be reached for his reaction. He didn’t speak at the announcement.

He was born in the southeastern Hungarian city of Gyula, near the border with Romania, and has since traveled the world. Throughout the 1970s, he studied law at universities in Szeged and Budapest before shifting his focus to literature.

Krasznahorkai has been a vocal critic of autocratic Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, especially his government’s lack of support for Ukraine after the Russian invasion.

But in a post on Facebook, Orbán was quick to congratulate the writer, saying: “The pride of Hungary, the first Nobel Prize winner from Gyula, László Krasznahorkai. Congratulations!”

In an interview with Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet earlier this year, Krasznahorkai expressed criticism both of Orbán’s political system and the nationalism present in Hungarian society.

“There is no hope left in Hungary today and it is not only because of the Orbán regime,” he told the paper. “The problem is not only political, but also social.”

He also reflected on the fact that he has long been a contender for the Nobel Prize in literature, saying: “I don’t want to lie. It would be very interesting to get that prize. But I would be very surprised if I got it.”

Previous awards for Krasznahorkai and the other Nobels this year

Krasznahorkai has received many earlier awards, including the 2015 Man Booker International Prize. The Booker judges praised his “extraordinary sentences, sentences of incredible length that go to incredible lengths, their tone switching from solemn to madcap to quizzical to desolate as they go their wayward way.”

He also won the National Book Award for Translated Literature in the U.S. in 2019 for “Baron Wenckheim’s Homecoming.”

The American writer and critic Susan Sontag once described Krasznahorkai as the “contemporary master of the Apocalypse.” He was also friends with American poet and writer Allen Ginsberg and would regularly stay in Ginsberg’s apartment while visiting New York City.

He’s the first winner from Hungary since Imre Kertesz in 2002. He joins an illustrious list of laureates that includes Ernest Hemingway, Toni Morrison and Kazuo Ishiguro.

The literature prize has been awarded by the Nobel committee of the Swedish Academy 117 times to a total of 121 winners. Last year’s prize was won by South Korean author Han Kang for her body of work that the committee said “confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.”

The literature prize is the fourth to be announced this week, following the 2025 Nobels in medicine, physics and chemistry.

The winner of the Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday. The final Nobel, the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, will be announced on Monday.

Nobel Prize award ceremonies are held on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death in 1896. Nobel was a wealthy Swedish industrialist and the inventor of dynamite who founded the prizes.

Each prize carries an award of nearly $1.2 million, and the winners also receive an 18-carat gold medal and a diploma.

Manenkov, Lawless and Corder write for the Associated Press. Corder reported from The Hague, Netherlands, and Lawless from London. Justin Spike contributed to this report from Budapest, Hungary.

Thousands to march in Hungary’s capital despite government ban, highlighting EU-wide resistance against anti-LGBTQ laws.

A record number of people are expected to attend a Pride march in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, defying a ban that marks an unprecedented regression of LGBTQ rights in the European Union.

The event on Saturday comes after Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s ruling coalition earlier this year amended laws and the constitution to ban the annual celebration. Orban’s government has consistently argued that the legislation defends traditional family values and protects children.

While the prime minister has been emboldened by the anti-diversity offensive of President Donald Trump in the United States, his own initiatives have drawn protests at home and condemnation from the EU and rights groups.

The nationalist leader on Friday said that while police would not “break up” the 30th edition of the Pride march, those who took part should be aware of “legal consequences”.

Despite the risk of a fine, more than 35,000 people are expected to gather at 2pm (12:00 GMT) near Budapest’s city hall, an hour before the march begins.

Ministers from several EU countries and dozens of European politicians are expected to attend in defiance of the ban, reminiscent of events in Moscow in 2006 and Istanbul in 2015.

“We’re not just standing up for ourselves … If this law isn’t overturned, Eastern Europe could face a wave of similar measures,” Pride organiser Viktoria Radvanyi said.

Earlier this week, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen called on the Hungarian authorities to reverse the ban.

Thirty-three countries have also spoken up in support of the march.

While parade organisers risk up to a year in prison, attendees can face fines up to 500 euros ($580). The latest legal changes empower the authorities to use facial recognition technology to identify those who take part.

Freshly installed cameras have appeared on lamp posts along the planned route of the march.

However, Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony has insisted that no attendee can face any reprisals as the march – co-organised by the city hall this time – is a municipal event and does not require police approval.

“The police have only one task tomorrow, and it is a serious one: to ensure the safety of Hungarian and European citizens attending the event,” Karacsony said during a briefing with visiting EU equalities commissioner Hadja Lahbib.

Far-right groups have announced multiple counterprotests along the planned route of the procession.

Justice Minister Bence Tuzson this week sent a letter to EU embassies cautioning diplomats and staff against participating because of the police ban.

Several EU countries have informed their citizens of the potential of fines through travel advisories.

Since Orban’s return to power in 2010, the country of 9.6 million people has been steadily rolling back LGBTQ rights.

Legal changes have, in effect, barred same-sex couples from adopting children, prevented transgender people from changing their name or gender in official documents, and a 2021 law forbade the “display and promotion” of homosexuality to under-18s.

In March, politicians passed a bill targeting the annual Pride march, amending the 2021 law to prohibit any gathering violating its provisions.

A month later, parliament also adopted a constitutional change to strengthen the legal foundations for the ban.

“Orban is employing a tried-and-tested recipe ahead of next year’s election by generating a conflict,” political analyst Daniel Mikecz told the news agency AFP. Orban was “polarising society”, he added.

Voter opinion polls suggest Orban’s Fidesz party has been losing ground to the opposition.

The first Pride march was held in 1970 in New York to mark the anniversary of the city’s Stonewall riots in June 1969, which created the gay rights movement.