Rubio plugs Orbán’s election bid while in Budapest
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio enthusiastically endorsed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s bid for a fifth consecutive term in office following elections in April.
During his visit to Budapest on Monday, Rubio emphasized the strong personal relationship between the nationalist leader and US President Donald Trump.
Orbán, who has ruled Hungary since 2010, is one of Trump’s most vocal supporters in the European Union and has actively stoked support for the US president ahead of the April 12 elections, in which he will face the toughest challenge in his last 16 years in power.
Rubio was in the Hungarian capital for talks with Orbán and his government, where the US-Hungary signed an agreement on civil nuclear cooperation.
This includes the possible purchase of compact nuclear reactors known as small modular reactors, or SMRs, as well as U.S.-supplied nuclear fuel and spent fuel storage technology.
At a press conference in Budapest, Rubio said that US-Hungary relations, which he and Orbán described as experiencing a “golden age” under the Trump administration, went beyond mere diplomatic cooperation.
“The prime minister and the president have a very, very close personal relationship and working relationship, and I think that’s beneficial to both of our countries,” Rubio said.
“President Trump is deeply committed to your success because your success is our success.”
Rubio’s stop in Hungary follows his visit to Slovakia on Sunday after previously attending the Munich Security Conference in Germany.
Slovakia and Hungary, led by Eurosceptic populists who oppose support for Ukraine and openly support Trump, are friendly territory in Rubio’s effort to promote energy deals with both central European countries.
Widely regarded as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most reliable defender in the EU, Orbán has maintained warm relations with the Kremlin despite his war against Ukraine.
Orbán has also established ties with Trump and the MAGA movement; it was an acronym for Trump’s 2016 campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.”
It remained committed to purchasing Russian energy despite EU efforts to abandon such supplies, and received a waiver from US sanctions on Russian energy after a meeting with Trump at the White House in November.
Rubio did not specify on Monday how long this exemption would last because the EU plans to completely phase out Russian fossil fuels by the end of 2027.
Apparently confident that his political and personal closeness with Trump would yield even greater benefits, Orbán and his government tried to persuade the US leader to come to Hungary before the crucial April elections; They hoped such a high-profile visit and support would push Orbán, who is trailing in most polls, across the finish line.
On Monday, Orbán told Rubio that his government was ready to host any future trilateral peace summit between the United States, Russia and Ukraine and that Trump had an “open invitation” to Budapest.
He also claimed that Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, were trying to interfere in Hungary’s upcoming elections by criticizing Orbán’s opposition to providing arms or financial aid to Kiev and his threats to block Ukraine’s eventual EU membership.
Many in MAGA and the broader conservative world see Hungary as a shining example of successful conservative nationalism, despite the erosion of its democratic institutions and its status as one of the poorest countries in the EU.
Orbán criticized Trump’s popular slogan and declared that he and his movement aim to “Make Europe Great Again.”
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