HAMBURG, Germany — For a small country, Hungary has long wielded outsized power on the global stage due to its membership and veto rights in the European Union that allow it to influence the bloc’s relationship with China, Russia and the U.S. Its leader, Viktor Orban, is now paying a price for overextension.
The prime minister’s autocratic leanings have always put him at odds with Brussels. At a time when the EU had drawn up an economic de-risking strategy from China, Orban actively courted Chinese companies to build EV-related factories in Hungary, gaining Beijing’s favor and winning business by voting against the bloc’s tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles last year.
