They Were Paid by Orban’s Think Tank. Now, They Work for the U.S. Department of State.

Foto: Alan Santos/PR, Palácio do Planalto from Brasilia, Brasil, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Multiple members of the U.S. State Department have been involved with the Budapest-based conservative think tank, the Danube Institute, which has received millions in funding from Viktor Orbán’s far-right government, as well as other Hungarian government-affiliated events, according to Dekleptocracy. Danube serves as one of Hungary’s tools for foreign lobbying by offering fellowships to Western conservatives and inviting them to events as paid speakers. Experts say the Hungarian government is utilizing the think tank to exert its soft power abroad.

The Danube Institute is a Budapest-based conservative think tank closely aligned with far-right Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, and the Hungarian government almost entirely funds it. Its main mission is to amplify Orban's ideology abroad and gain soft power for Hungary. The institute has no separate legal existence. It is not registered as a civil organization or company, and shares its address and staff contracts with the Batthyany Foundation. According to a Hungarian investigative news outlet, Atlatszo, the Danube Institute received billions of Hungarian forints through a public foundation, the Batthyany Lajos Foundation, which enabled it to host international conferences and fund fellowships for right-wing figures, thereby expanding the transatlantic network between Republicans and Fidesz. Established in 1991 by Hungary’s first prime minister, Jozsef Antall, after the communist regime. Viktor Orbán’s government began pouring significant public funds into it because they saw potential in a non-government institution that was ideologically synced with their party. Since then, the BLA has become a key financial hub for pro-Fidesz institutions, including the Danube Institute, positioning it as a tool for exporting Orbán’s anti-immigrant, extreme right-wing ideology abroad.

Danube's events often feature well-known American and British right-wing politicians and political commentators, and it gives them a platform to discuss anti-immigration, anti-LGBTQ, anti-EU, and anti-Ukraine ideas openly. Danube serves as a government proxy, exporting Orbanism abroad at the expense of Hungarian taxpayers.

Arthur Milikh, a political advisor, is currently the Principal Deputy Director of the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff. He also serves as the executive director of the Claremont Institute’s Center for the American Way of Life, based in California. Shortly after the 2020 election, the center’s magazine published an opinion piece titled “The Fight Is Now”, describing the period as “a moment when Democrats are making a mockery of the law” and “trying to demoralize half the country.” Milikh also published a book called "Up from Conservatism: Revitalizing the Right after a Generation of Decay," which focuses on the future of the Right, featuring essays written and collected by several conservative authors. In an essay, he advocates for a firm approach when it comes to enemies, writing, “We like to say that one must govern, but a truer expression is that one must learn to rule.”

Fellows from the Claremont Institute have appeared at some of the world’s most prominent conservative gatherings, including the National Conservatism (Nat Con) conference in London, where the Danube Institute and The Heritage Foundation also participated. Milikh was a visiting fellow at the Danube Institute in 2024, shortly before he began his current government role. He is also an AWC Family Foundation Fellow at The Heritage Foundation.

Milikh is not the only Claremont Institute member to have had ties with the Danube Institute. Jeremy Carl, a senior fellow, also joined the Budapest-based think tank in 2022. (According to Atlatszo, a Hungarian investigative outlet, Carl’s contracts with Batthyany Lajos Foundation are a clear reflection of the Hungarian government’s intention to influence US policy without registering as an official lobbyist.)

Michael Anton is the Director of Policy Planning at the US State Department and a Jack Roth Senior Fellow in American Politics at the Claremont Institute. Anton was a speaker at the Danube Institute’s Danube Dialogues and the 2023 Third Danube Geopolitical Summit in Budapest, which was co-organized by the Heritage Foundation. He participated in a panel about the war in Ukraine, where he advocated for the US not to participate in a military conflict. Last year, he flew to Budapest again, where he spoke at the Ludovika Festival, discussing the war in Ukraine and the “Changing International World Order” once more. Ludovika also receives millions in government funds through the National University of Public Service. Pro-government Mandiner even published a piece on “Hungary’s friend who will shape US foreign policy”.

Another Public Policy Planning staffer, Jonathan Askonas, led a panel in Washington with Hungary’s Culture and Innovation minister at the time, Janocs Csak, about Csak’s book “The Genius of America”. Askonas taught politics at the Catholic University of America, and his work was often quoted in The American Conservative.

According to a Budapest source familiar with the matter, Danube is excellent at finding people who can be “good investments in the long run”. And what these Orban adjacent institutions are good at is “soft power logic”, a “small investment of today could pay off tomorrow”. These think tanks are proud that their members have secured important government positions abroad. “We don’t know the cause and the effect” because Danube could have had a good instinct in selecting these individuals. He stressed the importance of personal experience at these institutions, which often changes a fellow’s perspective. “After [spending time there] you won’t share the same critical view of the Hungarian governement as the mainstream media. Even if you are a high profile individual.” The source added that in his experience it’s “part of the package” that these fellows and important speakers meet Orban in person. And the Danube Institute is a key place in that regard. They are very thorough when it comes to selecting speakers and fellows, and they have a tremendous amount of resources for inviting people to Budapest.

Orbán’s Hungary has served as a “model nation” for Republicans in recent years. Former US. President Donald Trump’s advisor Steve Bannon even described Orbán as “Trump before Trump.” Just before last year’s elections, Orbán claimed that Hungary had “deep involvement” in the “policy-writing system of President Donald Trump’s team.” A CBS News investigation later revealed that the Hungarian prime minister was likely referring to a polling firm called KÓD Piackutató Intézet, which is linked to another pro-Orbán think tank, Századvég Foundation. The institute reportedly shared information with Trump campaign allies on strategies for “how to win elections.”

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