Thread by @panyiszabolcs

"This is unprecedented. A US institution has been driven out of a country that is a NATO ally,”, says @M_Ignatieff of @ceuhungary’s expulsion.

This is what happened in Hungary since the @StateDept under Trump introduced the ‘policy of more engagement’ with Orbán’s gov’t. THREAD

2/ Military helicopters: first, Hungary chose Russia over EU and NATO allies to cut a deal on military helicopters - refurbishing old Mi-17s with Russia‘s Vertolety Rossii instead of buying new ones from Western companies. abouthungary.hu/news-in-brief/…

3/ Then, despite US lobbying, Hungary gave the remainder of the military helicopter business to France’s Airbus, buying 20 pieces of H145Ms. thedefensepost.com/2018/06/29/hun…

4/ When US ambassador David Cornstein, a friend of Donald Trump arrived to Hungary in the summer of 2018, signing a new Defense Cooperation Agreement with Hungary was one of his priorities. Sources now tell me that Hungary shows reluctance and negotiations are lagging behind.

5/ In a year-long secret investigation, the US DEA managed to hunt down two Russian arms dealers who were operating in Hungary. Orbán's government, however, upset the US by denying their extradition request and sending the Lyubishins to Russia instead. direkt36.hu/en/ket-orosz-f…

6/ "This decision is not consistent with our law enforcement partnership, undercuts the work that our agencies had done together to build this case, and will make citizens in the United States, Hungary, and the world less safe,”, @statedeptspox stated. state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/20…

7/ Nicola Gruevski, fugitive ex-leader of Macedonia fled to Hungary where he received asylum. The pro-Russian, anti-NATO politician’s escape was facilitated by Hungarian diplomats.
nytimes.com/2018/11/20/wor…

8/ Gruevski’s Macedonia was the country where “teenagers” were operating hundreds of fake news sites and troll farms trying to influence the 2016 US election. occrp.org/en/spooksandsp…

9/ In 2017, Hungary started blocking Ukraine’s EU and NATO ascension following a conflict over minority rights and a new education law. The tensions were exploited by pro-Kremlin actors, and even Russia itself. vsquare.org/zakarpattia-we…

10/ It was the Trump admin’s other priority in Hungary to resolve the country’s dispute with Ukraine. Despite high-level meetings where Mike Pompeo and John Bolton met with Hungarian counterparts, Hungary is officially still blocking the NATO-Ukraine Commission meetings.

11/ The expulsion of @ceuhungary is really just tip of the iceberg, but a symbol of fading US influence in the Central Eastern European region. CEU is leaving Budapest despite a bipartisan support from Congress, @StateDept & @WHNSC. ceu.edu/article/2018-1…