It is time for a reckoning in the west over Hungary, says US ambassador

Allies must face reality of strategic divergence under Orbán and country’s ‘doublespeak’, says David Pressman

The US ambassador in Budapest has said that Hungary’s democracy problems and foreign policy divergence from the west can no longer be dismissed as rhetoric and that the time has come for “a reckoning”.

Since coming to power more than 14 years ago, the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has concentrated political and economic power in the hands of his ruling party and a handful of businesspeople close to the government, while also nurturing relationships with Moscow and Beijing.