BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) 鈥 As millions of viewers around the world focus on Hungary while it hosts the year's largest international sporting event, its nationalist prime minister will receive the leaders of Turkey, Serbia, Qatar and a host of Central Asian nations in a sign of the European country's continuing drift toward the Eastern sphere of influence.
Prime Minister Viktor Orb谩n, a self-proclaimed who is characterized by an aggressive stance toward his Western partners, plans numerous bilateral meetings in the coming days as the capital, Budapest, hosts the 2023 World Athletics Championships.
The nine-day track and field event will be the backdrop for talks with the Emir of Qatar and the presidents of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, as well as leaders from the Balkan nations of Serbia and Bosnia.
In an interview Friday with state radio, Orb谩n described the leaders 鈥 many of whom have overseen democratic decline in their own countries 鈥 as Hungary's 鈥減olitical friends,鈥 and said the athletics championships would provide a forum for the bilateral meetings as well as talks with business people from around the world, including China.
鈥淚f there's a big world event, then the given country invites its friends,鈥 Orb谩n said Friday, adding that such events are 鈥渁 more or less covert series of diplomatic meetings.鈥
The lineup of guests, devoid of any leaders from Hungary's allies in the European Union and NATO, reflects Orb谩n's push to increase diplomatic and political cooperation with autocracies in the Balkans and Asia. In power since 2010, Orb谩n has implemented an 鈥淓astern opening鈥 diplomatic strategy, which relies heavily on partnerships and trade deals with countries like Russia and China.
Uniquely among its neighbors in Central and Eastern Europe, Hungary has maintained since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, increasing shipments of Russian gas and oil and refusing to support Ukraine with weapons or allow their transfer across its shared border.
This stance 鈥 as well as years of alleged rule-of-law abuses and democratic backsliding 鈥 has largely isolated Hungary among its European and American partners, resulting in the and .
Partnerships with countries outside the EU and NATO, therefore, have received increased emphasis. In a news conference Friday, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said the topic of most of Orb谩n's meetings this week would focus on securing natural gas supplies to Hungary from Qatar, Azerbaijan and several countries in Central Asia.
But Orb谩n's most high-profile meeting will be with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with whom he will discuss security, defense and economic cooperation, according to a statement from his office.
Turkey and Hungary to join the military alliance as over a year of delays have frustrated many NATO allies. Hungary's government has said it will revisit the issue during the next parliamentary session scheduled for the end of September.
Hungary's government did not provide any further information on the expected contents of Orb谩n's upcoming talks, and did not respond to a request for comment.
Orb谩n will also meet with Milorad Dodik, the pro-Russian leader of Republika Srpska, a Serb entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Dodik, who has openly advocated for separating Bosnian Serb territories from the rest of Bosnia and joining them with neighboring Serbia, was last year for 鈥渃orrupt activities鈥 that threaten to destabilize the region. Four other Bosnian Serb leaders were also .
Speaking on Friday, Szijjarto condemned the sanctions, calling them 鈥渧ery serious Western efforts to negate the democratically elected leaders of the Bosnian Serb community.鈥
