In the June 3 edition of The Washington Post, an op-ed by Anne Applabeum:"Brace yourself" 'Another wave of drowning refugees is coming – unless Europe takes action'
In the June 3 issue of the Hungarian literary and political weekly Élet és Irodalom, an opinion piece by István Dobozi: "Clinton beszéde után"
The writer discusses the reactions to ex-president Bill Clinton's recent speech critical of Hungary and Poland for their alleged drift toward a "Putin-style leadership and dictatorship." Mr. Clinton also claimed credit to America for the two countries' liberation from communism. His statement received measured critical response from the major American Hungarian organizations, in contrast to some sharp reactions from Budapest, despite the fact that similar statements are routine in the mainstream U.S. media. Mr. Dobozi says that this "Clinton affair" has exposed anew the already low level political relations between Hungary and the United States, including the fact that the prime minister of Hungary is not welcome in the White House. American concerns about Mr. Orban and his government center around a perceived deficit in democracy, populism, too great a tolerance toward racism and anti-Semitism, weakened atlanticism and the wider geographic effect of the "Orbán excesses."
The article asks the question: can the upcoming U.S. presidential elections bring a fundamental shift in bilateral political relations? Under president Clinton, the status quo is likely to persist given her liberal values-centered interventionist foreign policy stance. Under president Trump, even with some remarkable similarities in several key policy areas, a turnaround cannot be excluded.