Ties with Russia and Germany priority - Hungarian PM

Ties with Russia and Germany priority - Hungarian PM

BUDAPEST -- Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said that he gives more priority to his country's relations with Russia and Germany than with the United States.

"If we want lasting peace and security in Hungary, then we must be solving that with the two powers that are present in Central Europe strongly and in the long term," Orban said.

He added that the U.S. was an important partner, but that its position often depends on the internal political situation, and that he was not sure how much weight is given to the region by Washington.

Orban's statement was made in the midst of the cooling of Hungarian-American relations, after the prime minister became the target of criticism by top representatives of the U.S. administration, who accused him of stifling democracy and encouraging corruption.

The United States last year placed several officials from Orban's Fidesz party on a blacklist of persons not to be issued visas, because of suspicion of their involvement in corruption affairs.

Orban is increasingly the target of criticism within the EU as well, because of his "warm" relations with Russia and his position that a restrictive model of democracy, such as that present in Russia and China, would be better for Hungary than the system that exists in most European countries.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel during her visit to Budapest this week strongly criticized Orban for this attitude, warning him that liberal values ??such as freedom of speech and political organization are linked to the very essence of democracy.

Meanwhile, it has been announced in Moscow that President Vladimir Putin will soon travel to Budapest. Orban has been quoted as...