“This is a big win for Orbán,” said Jennifer Kavanagh, an analyst with Defense Priorities, a Washington think-tank with links to the Trump administration. “He has been cast as an outlier, and getting a lot of flak for it . . . this is a rejection of that narrative.”
She noted the summit could have an impact on Hungarian elections due in spring, when Orbán is facing his strongest challenger after being in power for 15 years. “For Orbán, having Hungary elevated to the status of countries like Turkey, Vietnam or the Gulf states, which can talk to anyone in the world, is definitely a status bump.”
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