The EU, Hungary, and Russian vaccine diplomacy

Since the Fidesz-KDNP alliance rise to power in April 2010 the relations between Hungary and the institutions of the European Union have been becoming more and more strained. A proponent of illiberal democracy, Prime Minister Viktor Orban has pursued a foreign policy shaped by nationalism, often disregarding Brussels stance and provoking conflict. The institutions have accused Hungary of abandoning the principles of liberal democracy and rejecting the European values and threatened to impose sanctions. Orban played the Euroscepticism card domestically and with the members of the Visegrad Group that supported Hungary in its opposition to the EU’s common policy concerning the migrant crisis of 2015. While some may consider Orban a populist, his Brussels policy can strengthen Hungary’s position in the Union. This paper studies how Budapest and Brussels interacted against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-2021 and what influence Russia had on that interaction. Hungary, having deviated from the course of Europeanisation in its foreign policy, has become increasingly inclined to position itself as a sovereign state, whose government stands up for its national interest and thereby comes into conflict with Brussels. In 2020, this trend developed into the Hungarian National Security Strategy based on the three foundational tenets: 1) Hungary recognizes the global changes and the emergence of an alternative world order; 2) Hungary needs to build relationships with other global actors (Russia and China) besides the European Union that (as well as the West, in general) became a considerably weaker element of the international system; and 3) Hungary’s policy is framed in the Berlin-Moscow-Istanbul triangle. To sum up, the de-Europeanization backslide within the Hungarian foreign policy manifests itself in Orban’s rhetoric against Brussels, in his idea of the Visegrad Group as a prospective part of the Paris-Berlin axis, and in the reinforcement of the Hungary-Russia relations. The article demonstrates how Budapest leverages Russia’s vaccine diplomacy to exert pressure on Brussels when Hungarian interests are at stake. The author dismisses the notion of Hungary as of a Russia’s Trojan horse, because such view on the Orban’s policy concerning the EU institutions is oversimplified and wants to emphasize that Hungary and Russia pursue different interests. The main finding of this study is that Orban’s EU policy is in itself manipulative, aimed at conforming the European foreign policy to the politician’s own views. His eventual success would have a significant impact on the transformation of the EU. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

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