Why US and Russia are backing Viktor Orbán in Hungary election | Viktor Orbán

TThe official announcement that JD Vance would visit was greeted by Budapest with at least four exclamation points and three emojis, days before Hungarians cast their votes in a hotly contested election.

“!!Official!!” Balázs Orbán, Viktor Orbán’s political director, wrote on social media while confirming the news. The White House said Vance will travel to Hungary on Tuesday with his wife, Usha; this is widely seen as an attempt to support Orbán as he trails at the polls.

But the United States is not the only country standing behind Orbán. It seems that support also came from eastern Hungary; It is claimed that Russian intelligence agencies, as well as disinformation networks with ties to Russia, are trying to influence the elections.

Questions A maelstrom began over why the two countries once seemed to agree that Orbán should be kept. described Hungary is in power as a “petri dish for liberalism.”

“That’s a bit ironic, isn’t it?” said Jeremy Shapiro, director of research at the European Council on Foreign Relations. “If you had asked me five years ago: ‘Would this happen?’ “I would definitely say no.”

He said this is an indication of how U.S.-Russia relations have transformed recently. “On one level, the United States and Russia are sort of playing their old game of rivalry, but on another level, they appear to be ideologically aligned in terms of their commitment to, say, a white nationalist Christian civilizational ethic.”

As the Central European country prepares to go to the polls, elections have gained great importance in a country with a population of approximately 9.5 million.. Donald Trump has repeatedly supported Orbán, describing him as a “great man” and a “strong and powerful leader.”

Shapiro said Hungary, long seen by many as pro-Russian and “a bit of a Russian mole” within the EU and NATO, has not changed, and neither has Russia. “What’s changing here is the United States,” Shapiro said. “The United States has fundamentally repositioned itself ideologically and redefined its relationship with Russia. Viktor Orbán is ground zero for this because he is the most open white Christian civilization leader in Europe and the person who has the most ideological influence and exchange with the Trump administration.”

Trump and those around him have been talking about Hungary for a long time, portraying Hungary as a kind of Hungary, as a local journalist put it. “Christian conservative Disneyland”.

Respect continued despite Hungary broke into freedom of the press Rankings encountered accusations It is no longer a full democracy and according to Transparency International The most corrupt country in the EU.

Orbán’s efforts to cultivate a warm relationship with the Trump administration contrast sharply with his relations with the EU, where the relationship has fallen to new lows over immigration, LGBTQ+ rights and, most recently, Orbán’s refusal to sign off on a 90 billion euro loan to Ukraine.

In February, Marco Rubio was candid about the extent to which the Trump administration was prepared to support Orbán. “I can tell you with confidence that President Trump is deeply committed to your success, because your success is our success,” the US secretary of state told Orbán at a press conference.

Rubio added that Trump would be “very interested” in finding ways to help if Orbán faced difficulties. “We want this country to do well. This is in our national interest, especially as long as you are the prime minister and leader of this country.”

Weeks later, reports began to emerge about the lengths to which Russia would also go to ensure Orbán’s victory. The Washington Post reported that Russian intelligence officers suggested attempting to assassinate Orbán to increase his chances of winning; The Guardian found that Russia-linked disinformation networks were publishing content aimed at undermining Orbán’s main rival.

Dalibor Rohac, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, said it may be too early to conclude that Russia and the United States are on the same side because their motivations are markedly different.

“It is very useful for the Russians that Orbán is the fifth arm of the EU, who can derail, obstruct or slow down the European decision-making process or as a conduit for intelligence operations. He has provided many services to the Russians over the years,” he said.

A hint of this support emerged following allegations that Hungarian foreign minister Péter Szijjártó routinely called his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to convey details of secret EU meetings. Szijjártó later admitted to meeting Lavrov and described the talks as “diplomacy”.

But Rohac said that on the US’s part, the “love” for Orbán appears to stem from ideology. “I think it’s a real strategic imperative for Russia to try to keep Orbán in power,” he said. “For the United States, I think this is kind of an artifact of how the Republican party has transformed under Trump.”

one pointed out 2019 letter Trump, including the signatories In Rubio, the US Senate foreign relations committee expressed concerns about Hungary’s “downward democratic trajectory” and the country’s close relationship with Moscow.

“There was a time when Republicans understood what was going on in Hungary and were able to resist this kind of uncritical love for Orbán,” Rohac said. “And I think there are still some people in Congress who understand what’s really going on and that Hungary is not a reliable partner. But they’re much quieter now.”

These voices were in the spotlight late last month after statements made by a pair of bipartisan U.S. senators. introduced legislation He called for sanctions against senior Hungarian officials if the country’s leadership continues to block aid to Ukraine or continues to rely on Russian oil and gas.

Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate foreign relations committee, said in a statement: “While the rest of Europe has rightfully given up on Russian energy, Hungary has doubled down.”

He called on the Trump administration to hold all its allies to the same standard. “The claim that Vice President Vance plans to visit Hungary to provide electoral support to a corrupt government that continues to fund Russia’s war machine is beyond belief,” Shaheen said.

Time will tell how successful the US and Russia will be in supporting Orbán. As Hungarians grapple with economic stagnation, political scandals and fraying social services, Most polls show that Orbán’s Fidesz party continues to lag behind the centre-right Tisza party led by Péter Magyar.

But beyond his electoral success, Rohac saw a broader message in the Trump administration’s support for Orbán that he said Europe should consider carefully.

“I almost hesitate to say this, but I think Europeans should be concerned on some level that just as Russia regularly interferes in European elections, we shouldn’t expect Elon Musk, with his X or other US platforms, to weigh in on these election campaigns,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a concern that people might be weaponized against European democracies, but I think it’s a concern that people should have in the age of Trump.”