Hellvig, who was nominated by Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis to serve as head of the Romanian foreign intelligence service, wrote an article criticizing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his “regime” and its “blatant prejudice against liberal democratic values”, according to the news portal. During German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit to Budapest earlier this month, concerns regarding Orbán’s use of the term “illiberal democracy” were also raised, however, Orbán sought to deflect the criticism, saying that “Hungarians welcomed illiberal democracy; the fact that in English it means something else is not my problem.”
“Hungary tends to be a threat to European architecture, a Trojan horse increasingly under the influence of Moscow”, Hellvig wrote on his blog, adding that the Russian-Hungarian partnership poses a threat not only to the Romanian-Hungarian strategic partnership but also to partnerships with NATO and the EU. Hellvig believes that Romania should “take a leading role in defending democratic values and allied interests in the region” as Hungary becomes further embroiled in a “poisoned” relationship with Russia.
Hellvig also warned against Russia’s offensive military doctrine, which could justify the use of nuclear weapons even in the event of a non-nuclear conflict, and that CEE countries, formerly Eastern Bloc countries now members of NATO, could be especially targeted by Russia. To alleviate these concerns, Hellvig called for the strengthening of military capacity. The newly elected Romania President is also in favor of increased of military spending.
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