A bipartisan group in Congress is drafting US sanctions that would target leading Hungarian political figures tied to the Orbán government, as the relationship between the two countries continues to spiral downwards,
The Guardian reports.
The sanctions bill would name former officials and government supporters, mostly affiliated with the Fidesz party of the prime minister, Viktor Orbán.
The legislation has been in preparation since last year and is expected to go before Congress as soon as next month where it is likely to draw broad support, according to officials familiar with the drafting process.
The sanctions bill, first reported by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, is being drafted at a time of steadily worsening relations between Washington and Budapest.
Orbán was a close political ally of Donald Trump, and Fidesz maintains strong links with hardline US conservatives. This week, leaked Pentagon documents, based on intelligence, reported that the Hungarian prime minister had described the US as one of his party’s top three adversaries.
On Thursday, Hungary announced that it plans to leave the Russia-controlled International Investment Bank (IIB), a day after the US imposed sanctions on the Budapest-based institution widely referred to as Moscow’s “Trojan horse” inside Europe.
The treasury department had also announced punitive measures against the former IIB board chair, Nikolay Kosov, and two senior management officials, Georgy Potapov and Imre Laszlóczki.
Announcing its decision to withdraw its representatives from the bank, Hungary expressed frustration at the US pressure.
“We accept and understand that we represent different positions, but we don’t understand why pressuring other states to change theirs is necessary,” the foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, said at a press conference. “Hungary is a state, therefore it should be treated as one, instead of a colony.”
