Budapest confirms JD Vance's visit. The Trump administration, another step in support of Viktor Orban before the elections in Hungary
Vice President JD Vance will visit Hungary in early April, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto announced Friday. Two sources familiar with the preparations told Reuters that Vance was doing so as a sign of support for Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who faces his toughest electoral test since he came to power in 2010.
Ahead of the April 12 election, Viktor Orban is in most polls behind Peter Magyar, a former close to the government who has since become the main opponent.
“The US vice president will come to Hungary, if I know correctly, sometime in early April,” Szijjarto said on the Otponban podcast. “This is the result of excellent US-Hungary relations, the fact that there are personal meetings from time to time,” the Hungarian official added.
The second top Trump administration official to go to Hungary
If the visit goes ahead, JD Vance will not be the first US official to go to Hungary to support Viktor Orban and his party, Fidesz, ahead of the April 12 parliamentary elections.
A similar gesture was made by the head of American diplomacy. Marco Rubio was in Budapest in February and publicly expressed his support for Hungary's current prime minister, who is facing economic problems, an energy price shock and a rival seen as a viable alternative, according to Reuters.
“I can tell you with confidence that President Trump is deeply committed to your success,” Rubio told Orban during the visit. “We are entering a golden era of relations between our countries because of the relationship you have with the US president,” added the US secretary of state, quoted by Reuters.
Viktor Orban, one of US President Donald Trump's closest allies in Europe, has long been at odds with Brussels on a wide range of issues, including Ukraine. The Hungarian leader has maintained cordial relations with Russia, refuses to send arms to Kiev and opposes Ukraine's accession to the European Union.
Trump sent a message of support for Orban last month when he called the Hungarian prime minister “a really strong leader” in a social media post.
