Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks at the graduation ceremony of the National University of Public Service in Budapest, Hungary, June 30, 2018. (Xinhua/Attila Volgyi)

Fox News television host Tucker Carlson recently interviewed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. The Central European leader was given his first-ever chance to inform Americans en masse of their present government's ideological radicalism and explain why it arguably goes against the US' national interests in the region. 

Orban even hinted that the US is meddling in Hungary's democratic processes, but expressed hope that the "Americans will realize that issues in Hungary must be decided by the Hungarians". 

None of this should be shocking to those who closely follow regional events. But the vast majority of the American people were probably very surprised to hear this. The Hungarian leader lamented that, "if you would have asked me several years ago whether could it happen that the ex-communist political forces and the anti-Semite right is forming a coalition and running together in the election against a pro-Israeli and pro-American, pro-NATO Western-oriented government as we have, as we are? My answer would have been no, it's impossible."

Yet that's exactly what's happening right now. This rolling regime change campaign is already moving ahead of the country's elections early next year. It is being driven by ideological reasons instead of the geopolitical ones that usually motivate such foreign meddlers. 

As Orban explained, his country is very proudly pro-Israeli, pro-American, pro-NATO, and Western-oriented, which would otherwise check all the boxes with respect to being a reliable US ally. The problem, however, is that the Western elite - most recently the American one following President Biden's election - is now largely comprised of ideological radicals. 

As Orban described it, many of them want to build "a new society, which is a post-Christian, post-national society." This stands in contrast to the Hungarian one that is "based on traditional values, on national identity, based on tradition of Christianity." He believes that the reason why his government is targeted for regime change is because "the Western liberals cannot accept that inside the Western civilization, there's a conservative national alternative which is more successful at everyday life at the level of them than the liberal ones." It's perhaps because of this perception that motivated President Biden to characterize Prime Minister Orban as a "totalitarian thug."  

That remark was made during the campaign trail. Yet it revealed just how much the current US president detests the Hungarian leader. In his defense, Orban very politely explained that President Biden doesn't know much about Hungary. This is a pity because, he said, "the bilateral relationship with the Americans is basically very good. We are cooperating well on the field of defense as NATO allies, economic cooperation is excellent. You are big investors here. Trade is going very well. Your businessman is finding a lot of possibilities here, so everything is fine, except the politics when the liberals are in government in Washington. That's the problem."

Orban's interview should pique the curiosity of all observers. This loyal American ally firmly believes in retaining excellent economic and military ties with Washington, but also wants to preserve his country's socio-political sovereignty. Regrettably, radical Western ideologues - including those who are responsible for formulating policy in the Biden administration - are obsessed with toppling him for that reason. They are even going so far as to tacitly legitimize the antisemitic members of the opposition in pursuit of that end. This observation proves that even allied countries that don't submit to the US' ideology will be punished. 

In other words, Washington doesn't truly have any "allies" since it won't even treat its "fellow" NATO "partners" like Hungary as equals. Washington aspires to only have vassals who unquestionably comply with all of its decrees; especially its ideological ones. By definition, this is a totalitarian policy. It is aggressively promoting regime change in a foreign country. The Hungarian case study is therefore very important because: it shows the world how unreliable the US really is as an "ally". 

The author is a Moscow-based American political analyst. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn