Democrats claim that they are tougher than President Trump in countering Vladimir Putin's Russia. But they really aren't.

Consider their reaction to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's White House visit on Monday. Take, for example, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the House Intelligence Committee chairman and a leading Democratic Party voice against Putin.

Read this article about Hungary under Viktor Orban, and then ask why the leader of the free world would fête this aspiring dictator at the White House.



Rather than reward Orban for crushing Hungary's democracy, we should be pressing him to reject the path to autocracy. https://t.co/OnVaL65kkl — Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) May 13, 2019

To answer Schiff's question, Trump is right to "fête" Orbán for a simple reason: in order to counter Russia.

Hungary is a NATO member state near the top of Putin's list of states to sever from the Western alliance. Putin has seen Orbán surrounded by EU officials condemning his every move and has wisely offered friendship, albeit with a price. He has dangled energy deals and other investments in return for Russian influence over Hungary and access to Western Europe.

That should concern us, a lot. Hungary isn't just any country. Sitting just atop Russia's favored playground for instability, the Balkans, just east of Russia's favorite intelligence playground in Western Europe, Austria, and just west of Ukraine, Hungary offers a geo-strategic jewel for Putin's foreign policy. Trump is thus absolutely right to try and pull Orbán back into the U.S.-led NATO orbit. A White House visit serves that interest by granting Orbán public respect without sacrificing American interests. After all, the nationalist leader's political power is rooted heavily in perceptions of Hungarian pride and power.

What better choice do we have? Orbán responded to former President Barack Obama and the EU's disdainful attitude by doubling down on his autocratic impulses and moving even closer to Russia. Wooing Orbán toward more confidence in America, Trump has the chance to guide him toward a more democratic style of leadership, or at the very least, to keep Orbán out of Putin's pocket.

This visit is a small price to pay for the policy possibilities it offers.