WASHINGTON: U.S. Vice President JD Vance is planning to visit Hungary in the coming days in a show of support for the country’s long-time nationalist prime minister Viktor Orban, who is facing a difficult election next month, two sources familiar with the planning said on Wednesday.
The trip would come after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio traveled to Budapest in February to publicly back Orban ahead of his toughest re election fight since taking power in 2010. Opinion polls show him trailing in the final month before the April 12 vote.
The exact timing of Vance’s visit was not immediately clear and his plans could change, sources cautioned, as top officials may opt to remain in Washington while the U.S.-Israeli air war on Iran rages on. President Donald Trump said he is delaying his trip to China because of the war. The White House declined to comment.
Orban, one of Trump’s closest allies in Europe, has long been at loggerheads with the EU over a range of issues, including Ukraine. Defying Brussels, he has maintained cordial ties with Moscow, refuses to send weapons to Ukraine, and says Kyiv can never join the EU.
In a letter to Rubio on Thursday, democratic Senator Ruben Gallego said he was concerned about Hungary’s “downward Democratic trajectory,” Orban’s close ties to Moscow and the top U.S. diplomat’s recent visit to “overtly” campaign for the Hungarian leader.
He noted that as a Republican senator, Rubio signed a 2019 bipartisan letter expressing worries about Hungary’s democratic course. Gallego asked Rubio to write back on how his February appearance with Orban helped ensure a competitive election and advance U.S. strategic interests.
