Exclusive-Hungarian official sought information on perceived Orban opponents in USAID meeting

By Simon Lewis and Jonathan Landay

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An official appointed by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to investigate foreign political interference met with Trump administration officials this week in what U.S. officials saw as a bid to enlist their help against Orban's perceived enemies in advance of elections expected next year.

A Hungarian delegation met at the headquarters of the U.S. Agency for International Development in Washington with Trump appointees on Thursday and requested information on the agency's partners and employees in Hungary, said a source familiar with the matter.

The meeting raised concerns among some U.S. officials that information the Hungarians were seeking on U.S. funding for groups in Hungary would be used to bolster Orban's crackdown on independent media and civil society groups and they declined to provide it, the source said.

The Hungarian delegation was led by Andras Laszlo, a member of the European Parliament for Orban's ruling Fidesz party who was appointed in February as a commissioner to investigate alleged foreign interference. He told Reuters on Friday that some organizations in Hungary funded by USAID were "very much of a political nature and have a high impact on Hungarian political life."

USAID under past administrations supported civil society and media in countries around the world in the name of building resilient democracies, but critics including Orban say the goal was to overthrow governments not aligned with the United States.

The U.S. Department of State confirmed the meeting between Laszlo and officials including Kenneth Jackson, USAID Deputy Administrator for Management and Resources, saying that it was arranged at the request of the Hungarian official.

Orban has pledged to crack down on foreign funding of media and civil society groups in what his critics say is a move to strengthen his position ahead of 2026 elections, when he will face an unprecedented challenge from a new opposition party.

He has touted his personal friendship with U.S. President Donald Trump, with the two sharing a similar approach to issues including immigration, transgender rights and Russia's war in Ukraine.

Fidesz submitted a bill on Tuesday that would allow a government office to draw up a list of organizations that get foreign funding and would restrict or even shut them down if the government decides they threaten Hungary and its culture.

Critics have compared the proposed law, which would impose huge fines on organizations that accept foreign funds, to Russian legislation that allows authorities to label foreign-funded groups and others engaged in political activities as foreign agents.

Laszlo said he was tasked with sharing information with Washington on what he called foreign interference around Hungary's last general election in 2022. That involved asking Trump administration officials to share information with Hungary on the "extent... and the intent" of U.S. funding to organizations working in Hungary, he said, declining to detail the discussions further.

Laszlo said his investigation and his party's proposed law were not aimed at their opponents but at ridding Hungarian politics of foreign influence.

At Thursday's meeting, the U.S. officials politely refused to provide the information requested and closed the meeting by suggesting that Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto contact U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to arrange formal talks, according to the source familiar with the matter.

Laszlo said the discussions were private, but acknowledged what he called "uncertainty and hesitancy" among U.S. officials.

Key figures in Trump's MAGA movement - including former Trump adviser Steve Bannon and conservative media personality Tucker Carlson - draw inspiration from Orban and his self-declared "illiberal democracy." Orban's opponents have called him an authoritarian.

Tamas Matura, a non-resident fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, said Laszlo's trip appeared to be part of a crackdown by Fidesz and Orban on perceived opponents, including independent media, that is expected to intensify in the run-up to the 2026 elections.

“I think they need every kind of tool and method to start a smear campaign against any kind of opposition,” he said.

TARGETING USAID

Laszlo said in the interview at the Hungarian embassy in Washington that the information he was seeking would not be used to prosecute organizations for receiving funding in the past.

"This wouldn't be about punishment. This would be about understanding and developing prevention based on better and better understanding of what happened previously," he said.

Laszlo said he wanted to know if money distributed through USAID's Central Europe Program was "misused for political purposes and political activism."

That program began in 2022 and provided $35 million to "promote democratic institutions and resilience of independent, non-governmental entities" in countries including Hungary, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Laszlo in March met with Pete Marocco, who oversaw the administration's early efforts to shut down USAID's operations.

Trump's administration has moved to fire nearly all USAID staff, as billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency has slashed funding and dismissed contractors across the federal bureaucracy in what it calls an attack on wasteful spending.

(Reporting by Simon Lewis and Jonathan Landay; Editing by Don Durfee and Rosalba O'Brien)