Vance travels to Hungary hoping to boost Orban campaign

US Vice President JD Vance is traveling to Hungary to support the campaign of nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who faces the toughest re-election bid of his career.

According to Hungarian government sources, during the two-day visit, which will take place a few days before the April 12 parliamentary elections, Vance will meet Orban and attend a rally with him.

“I’m looking forward to seeing my good friend Viktor, and we’ll talk about all kinds of topics related to U.S.-Hungary relations,” Vance told reporters before leaving Washington on Tuesday. he said and added that relations with Europe and Ukraine would be discussed.

The rare gesture of support for Orban from a senior US official in person is the latest example of President Donald Trump’s efforts to support like-minded right-wing leaders, including in Argentina and Japan.

Opinion polls show that Orban and his Fidesz party, whom Trump has publicly supported and praised as a “really strong and powerful leader”, face the toughest election since returning to power in 2010.

They lag behind the center-right Tisza party, led by Peter Magyar, in most independent polls.

In a post published on X before Vance’s arrival, Magyar warned against outside interference.

“This is our country,” he wrote.

“Hungarian history is not written in Washington, Moscow or Brussels; it is written in the streets and squares of Hungary.”

“Illiberal democracy,” as Orban calls it, reflects key themes of Trump-era America: harsh anti-immigration policies, disdain for liberal norms, hostility toward global institutions, and attacks on the media, universities, and nonprofit groups.

He was the first European leader to support Trump during his 2016 presidential bid.

Aslı Aydıntaşbaş, a visiting researcher from the Brookings Institution think tank, said, “JD Vance’s visit is not a routine diplomacy, but a clear support for Viktor Orban before the most difficult election of his life.”

“For the Trump administration, Orban is not just a conservative friend but a central figure in efforts to establish an illiberal bloc within Europe. If Orban falls, the movement will suffer.”

Orban has long been at odds with the European Union on various issues, including Ukraine.

He maintains cordial ties with Moscow, refuses to send weapons to Ukraine and says Kiev will never join the EU.