The US State Department confirmed that Antal Rogan, a senior aide to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, has been removed from the Treasury's sanctions list, in a move it said was "no longer aligned with US foreign policy interests."

The decision, communicated by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio after a call with Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, marks a notable reversal three months after Rogan, one of the most influential ministers in the Orban cabinet, was blacklisted under the Global Magnitsky programme for his alleged central role in systemic corruption.

At the time, then-ambassador David Pressman accused Rogan of enriching himself and political allies through misuse of public office, calling him "a primary architect, implementer and beneficiary" of Hungary's entrenched graft network.

"A completely new era has started in Hungarian-US relations, characterised by friendship and full agreement on the main issues," Hungary's chief diplomat said after the telephone conversation, where parties had reviewed the main issues of bilateral cooperation and the current state of peace efforts. In his account of the talks with Rubio, Szijjarto omitted mentioning the sanctions issue.

Szijjarto claimed that Rogan's inclusion on the corruption blacklist "came out of pure spite" after the devastating defeat of Biden’s administration in November. Government officials had long insisted that the move in the final days of the Democrats was politically motivated and called the move a "petty revenge."

Budapest hoped that with the return of Donald Trump to the White House, Rogan would be quickly removed. In a contingency move, however, the prime minister reshuffled roles within his cabinet, taking duties away from Rogan, including the oversight of IT procurements, in fear that US companies would shy away from investing in Hungary if the propaganda minister was still in charge of that.

Rogan, one of the most influential members of the Orban cabinet, oversees Hungary's intelligence agencies and government communication, and leads several government entities, including the Digital Government Agency and the Hungarian Tourism Agency.

State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told the Guardian that continued designation of Rogan was inconsistent with US foreign policy interests. Regarding the call between Rubio and Szijjarto, she said the parties discussed strengthening US-Hungary alignment on critical issues and opportunities for economic cooperation.

Some geopolitical analysts suggest the delisting followed intense behind-the-scenes diplomacy and in exchange, Washington has quietly presented a package of non-negotiable demands to the Orban government. This includes calls to pivot away from its Eastern alliances, particularly with Russia and China, in favour of closer economic and military alignment with US economic interests.

Key expectations reportedly include: replacing Russian gas with US LNG, purchasing American arms, halting Chinese capital inflows, and switching from Russian to Western nuclear technology.

If Hungary fails to comply with the West's containment policy towards the Eurasian axis, Russia, China, and Iran, the US is prepared to escalate. One senior analyst even drew a parallel to the fate of former Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega, suggesting that the American intelligence community has already gathered enough material on the inner workings of Orban's circle to act decisively if needed.

The Hungarian leader, who has for long maintained a geopolitical strategic balance between East and West, is now under explicit pressure to choose sides, the analyst said.