Officials in Donald Trump's administration are promoting former Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán for the post of Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), according to a Wall Street Journal report published on Monday and picked up by Euronews and the Jerusalem Post. The idea, according to the newspaper, is to present him as a joint candidate of the United States, Russia and China — the three permanent members of the Security Council that have most often blocked one another's decisions over the past decade.
No decision has been taken, and there is no declared candidacy. Orbán's spokesperson did not respond to Euronews. Orbán himself, according to the Wall Street Journal, would only enter the race if victory were assured — which, by the newspaper's own assessment, currently looks unlikely.
The arithmetic in the Security Council
The post is not won by acclamation. The Security Council recommends a name to the General Assembly, and for that the candidate needs at least 9 of the 15 votes, with no veto from any of the five permanent members — the United States, Russia, China, France and the United Kingdom.
A US State Department official told the Wall Street Journal that eight of the 15 members would back Orbán "easily," and possibly as many as ten. The same source called him the "dream candidate for MAGA conservatives." The central question in that arithmetic is France and the United Kingdom: the report suggests the two might not block a name backed by a Council majority and the other three permanent members, but neither has taken an official position.
The term of the current Secretary-General, António Guterres, in office since 2017, ends on 31 December. An informal straw poll in the Security Council is scheduled for Wednesday. Last week Emirati diplomat Lana Nusseibeh entered the race and, according to the reporting, has been gaining momentum.
Moscow disputes the mechanics
The first significant official reaction came from Russia, and it was a step back. Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Alimov told the Interfax news agency that Russia, the United States and China will not nominate Orbán, because permanent members do not put forward candidates. If the reports are true, he added, those backing the Hungarian need to find a country to nominate him. "We will discuss all the people officially nominated for the post of Secretary-General," he said.
The caveat is technical, but it is not minor: it does not deny sympathy for the name, it denies the format. A candidacy needs a member state to present it, and none has volunteered publicly.
European reactions were more direct. Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski wrote on social media that he does not foresee Poland supporting Orbán's candidacy. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha posted on X that the Hungarian would bring to the job his "masterful veto and blackmail skills," built up over years of derailing major European Union decisions.
Who the mooted candidate is
Orbán governed Hungary for 16 years with an absolute majority and lost power in the parliamentary election of April 2026, defeated by Péter Magyar's Tisza party. His government drew criticism in the European Union and NATO over hard-right, anti-migration and eurosceptic policies and over rule-of-law backsliding — while maintaining close ties with Trump, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping.
Since the defeat, Hungarian authorities have been investigating fraud and corruption involving former members of his government. Two former ministers and the former central bank governor are under arrest, and the investigations could reach Orbán's own possible involvement. In May, the outlet VSquare reported that the UN post could appeal to the former premier precisely because of the diplomatic immunity that comes with it.
According to the Jerusalem Post, Orbán has shown interest but has reservations about his own nationalist image, and any announcement would wait until after the US midterm elections.
With information from Euronews and the Jerusalem Post, based on reporting by the Wall Street Journal.
