BUDAPEST, Hungary — The annual Independence Day celebration at the U.S. Embassy in Budapest is usually a modest garden party, a chance for the ambassador to celebrate American freedom, democracy and the rule of law.
Since becoming ambassador in June 2018, Cornstein has assiduously courted Orban, giving the Hungarian leader unexpected influence in the Trump administration. Cornstein used his decadeslong friendship with President Donald Trump to help broker a coveted Oval Office meeting for Orban in May — a meeting now under scrutiny by impeachment investigators in Washington.
Story continuesHe has undermined efforts by career diplomats to deliver messages to Washington about corruption and democratic backsliding in Hungary. And he has privately acted as a broker for Orban’s point of view, taking positions contrary to U.S. policy, according to interviews with roughly two dozen current and former American and foreign officials as well as others who have worked with Cornstein.
But Thomas Carothers, who studies democracies for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said Cornstein’s public praise for Orban had gone too far. “The ambassador has crossed the line, both in openly endorsing bad things and mocking serious issues,” he said.In April, a group of congressional staff members visited Budapest on a trip sponsored by the Hungarian government.
But Orban has been locked in a dispute with Ukrainian officials over a language law that he says is discriminatory to ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine. The dispute has become a key security issue for the United States because Orban has blocked Ukrainian engagement with NATO. The United States is adamant that such disagreements should have no bearing on NATO security matters.
Cornstein also took Orban’s side over the fate of Central European University, an accredited institution that Orban forced from the country. Hungarian-born philanthropist George Soros founded the school after the collapse of the Soviet Union, in part to educate a new generation on the principles of human rights and the rule of law. As he eroded democratic norms, Orban attacked Soros, portraying him as part of a global conspiracy against the prime minister.