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US Vice President JD Vance flew to Hungary Monday night to deliver President Donald Trump’s support to his ally, nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, ahead of tightly contested parliamentary elections.
Vance will meet with Orbán on Tuesday morning, followed by a speech at the “Hungarian-American Friendship Day” rally at the MTK Sports Park.
“We’ll talk about any number of things related to the US-Hungary relationship,” Vance told the press as he departed from Andrews Air Force Base outside of Washington. “Obviously, I’m sure Europe and Ukraine and all the other stuff will figure in pretty prominently.”
Trump has repeatedly voiced support for the Hungarian Prime Minister during his second term. “I support his upcoming election; in fact, I am fully behind him,” the US President has said.
Viktor Orbán’s campaign is primarily focused on foreign policy issues, in which he has an important role to play in maintaining good relations with both US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
However, polls by independent institutes predict a sweeping victory for the Tisza party led by pro-European conservative Péter Magyar.
In two years, Magyar has built an opposition movement capable of challenging the hegemony of the incumbent Hungarian leader, who has transformed his country into a model of illiberal democracy.
Pro-government institutions, for their part, predict victory for Orbán’s Fidesz-KDNP coalition.
Since returning to power, Trump and his government have broken with the traditional restraint past US administrations have shown regarding foreign elections. Instead, it now strongly and openly shows support for leaders it sees as compatible with its ideology and diplomatic priorities.
Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State, travelled in mid-February to Budapest, where he wished his Hungarian ally “success.”
“I can say to you with confidence that President Trump is deeply committed to your success, because your success is our success,” Rubio said during a joint press conference with Orban after their meeting.
Orban is particularly aligned with the Trump administration on anti-migrant policies, which came to the fore in Hungary during the refugee crisis 10 years ago. He has visited Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida several times.
Additional sources • AFP