OUR Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbancharacterizes them USA as one of his Fidesz party’s three biggest rivals, according to an allegedly leaked CIA assessment, highlighting the depth of a long-standing rift between Washington and a NATO member increasingly protective of its ties to Russia and China.

The top-secret disclosures, already the worst national security breach by Washington in recent years, include information about a shortage of munitions in Ukraine, U.S. intelligence gathering practices used against Russia, and evidence pointing to U.S. spying on close allies such as Ukraine. South Korea and Israel.

A March 2 CIA intelligence briefing said that Orban’s designation of the United States as the main adversary “represents an escalation in the level of anti-American rhetoric.”

The Wall Street Journal was unable to independently verify the authenticity of the leaked documents, including a dossier containing alleged CIA findings. However, Defense Department officials said they believe some of the documents may be genuine, although some appear to have been forged.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Budapest has expressed deep skepticism about Western priorities, including the need to pull out of Russian energy and send military aid to Ukraine.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjarto, speaking in Moscow on Tuesday, said he had struck a new energy deal with Russia that would enable Budapest to import more Russian gas than was agreed upon last year. Hungary has also criticized Western attempts to enlist it as part of a united front against China, which Budapest has aggressively courted for years.

Earlier this year, high-ranking Chinese diplomat Wang Yi visited Hungary despite US concerns about increased Chinese investment in the country.

Budapest was the first country in the European Union to sign the so-called Belt and Road Infrastructure Development Memorandum with Beijing, which funded a Chinese-built rail line linking the country to Serbia.

Hungary is home to the largest purchasing center of Huawei Technologies Co. outside of China, despite US pressure to isolate the tech company. After being expelled from Budapest by Central European University, a US-accredited college founded by billionaire George Soros, Orban agreed to host Shanghai’s Fudan University, whose Hungarian campus will be the first Chinese university in the European Union.

Hungary’s stance towards China paid off for Budapest. Last year, Chinese battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. has announced the construction of a €7 billion battery plant, equivalent to $7.5 billion, in Debrecen, eastern Hungary.

Source: Wall Street Journal