U.S. fully restores Hungary's status in visa waiver program

By Krisztina Than and David Shepardson

BUDAPEST/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States has fully restored Hungary's status in its visa waiver program after the Hungarian government took steps to address security vulnerabilities, the Trump administration said on Tuesday.

The decision is one of the first tangible signs of improved relations between the U.S. and Hungarian governments under President Donald Trump's administration. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has long been a Trump ally.

The Visa Waiver Program permits citizens from about 40 countries to travel to the United States for stays of up to 90 days without a visa.

In 2021, the U.S. Homeland Security Department revoked already-issued electronic approvals of all Hungarian passport holders born outside of Hungary and continued to deny new applications to Hungarian applicants born outside of Hungary.

In August 2023, the Biden Administration reduced the validity period for Hungarian travelers from two years to one year, while also limiting electronic approvals to a single use.

"Now that the government of Hungary has taken action requested by the U.S. government to address security vulnerabilities, the restrictions imposed by the previous administration have been lifted," DHS said on Tuesday.

While Orban and Trump have established a strong personal rapport, relations between the two countries are not without their frictions.

Orban, whose country is a European Union member, had hoped for a wide-ranging economic agreement to be signed with the Trump administration, but it has not yet materialized.

The U.S. and the EU struck a framework trade agreement on July 27 that imposed a 15% import tariff on most EU goods, averting a bigger trade war. However, the deal hurts Hungary because of its auto exports, which had previously incurred a tariff of just 2.5%.

Hungary also remains heavily reliant on Russian gas and crude supplies, while Trump is pressuring the EU to speed up its efforts to end all energy imports from Russia.

At the same time, the Orban government's anti-immigration policies have earned admiration in MAGA circles in the United States. Orban also welcomed Trump's decision earlier this year to shut down USAID, the main U.S. foreign aid agency.

(Reporting by Krisztina Than and Anita Komuves and David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Gareth Jones)