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For Hungary, all this pressure has occurred during a period of rapid defense modernization. Hungary's military
command center in Székesfehérvár plays a central role in NATO's eastern flank. Further, Hungary has already met its
2 percent military spending commitments on 2023, and will do so in 2024 as well. The same cannot be said of certain
other NATO partners who are not subject to American pressure campaigns.
Today the expansion of NATO is treated with almost religious significance. But if it is so important, why would the
United States come down so harshly on one of its most engaged allies?
To be sure, the putative reasons for the latest action obscure the real ones. According to David Pressman, the U.S.
ambassador in Budapest, the Biden administration was forced to take action because of Hungary's reluctance to
disclose personal information about dual citizens who hold Hungarian citizenship in Hungary's near abroad. After
nearly a century in which Hungarians abroad had no civic relationship with their homeland, Hungary has expanded
access to citizenship for Hungarian nationals in neighboring countries over the last decade.
In turn, the U.S. has demanded data regarding Hungarians outside Hungary's borders who have dual citizenship. But
disclosing private information regarding its citizens is a line that no government would cross in this war-torn part of the
world.
US President Joe Biden attends the meeting of the North Atlantic Council (NAC) with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (R)
during the NATO Summit in Vilnius on July 11, 2023.
PAUL ELLIS / POOL / AFP/GETTY IMAGES