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Operation "Save Orban", Trump sends JD Vance to Hungary before the elections
2026-04-03 23:56:20 / BOTA
The Trump administration is doing its best to save its number one ally in Europe.
US Vice President JD Vance will land in Budapest on Tuesday for a high-stakes intervention that underscores how far the White House is willing to go to support Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán ahead of the April 12 national election.
Orbán is faltering in the polls, while the anti-corruption opposition candidate, Péter Magyar, is making headway in his bid to seize power in Budapest after 16 years of leadership by the ruling Fidesz party, A2 writes.
Vance's visit, scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, was presented by Hungarian government spokesman Zoltán Kovács as a celebration of the deep ties between the two countries. "The visit highlights the strong and enduring alliance between Hungary and the United States," he wrote in X on Friday.
The US vice president will hold talks with Orbán, a MAGA ally, and then deliver a public speech, during a trip that directly involves Washington in the final phase of a heated election campaign.
This echoes a US effort in Argentina last year, where US officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, intervened to support President Javier Miel ahead of the national midterm elections, to keep a key hemispheric ideological ally in a strong position.
In numerous speeches and remarks over the 15 months since President Donald Trump returned to office, senior American officials have made it clear that they believe Europe is on the wrong political path and that the nationalist-populist Orbán is a model the continent should follow.
The Hungarian prime minister has promoted his vision of illiberal democracy while frequently clashing with Brussels over the EU's direction on migration, Russia and minority rights.
The Trump administration has been a close ally of Orbán since the US president's first term in office, and this now extends to a last-ditch pre-election effort to keep him in power.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared a "golden era" in relations between the countries during a visit in February, a signal of Hungary's growing importance to the US as relations with other European capitals deteriorate.
While senior Fidesz officials were elated about Vance's visit to Hungary, not everyone is so impressed.
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