Hungary’s government on Thursday said it expected the US to try to interfere in elections next year in an effort to unseat premier Viktor Orban’s rightwing populist Fidesz party, adding Washington held a grudge against Budapest for its close ties to former President Donald Trump.
Foreign minister Peter Szijjarto said that he expected Washington to deploy the Magnitsky Act, which can be used to impose sanctions and other measures against foreign nationals for corruption or human rights abuses, before the central European country’s general election next April.
Fidesz faces its toughest challenge yet as Orban runs for a fourth successive mandate in elections next year. Szijjarto said Budapest was would fend off attempts to defeat the government.