JD Vance Arrives in Hungary to Support Viktor Orban
US Vice-President JD Vance is scheduled to arrive in Hungary to endorse veteran Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a significant European ally of the Trump administration, ahead of a challenging parliamentary election.
Vance is anticipated to speak alongside Orban at an election rally held in a football stadium in Budapest on Tuesday afternoon.
Last month, US President Donald Trump expressed his full endorsement of Orban in a video message delivered to the Hungarian Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Budapest, stating:
"He has my complete and total support."
Orban Faces His Toughest Election in Decades
The parliamentary election on 12 April is regarded as the most difficult electoral challenge in Orban's political career, which spans nearly 40 years.
On Sunday, Orban confronts Peter Magyar, a former member of Orban's party Fidesz who parted ways two years ago to establish the centre-right Tisza party. Most polls indicate that Tisza leads Fidesz by margins ranging from 10% to 20%, with the exception of the pro-government Nezopont agency, which shows Fidesz narrowly ahead.
Historical Ties Between Orban and Trump
Orban's relationship with Trump dates back to 2016, when he was the sole EU leader to support Trump in the US presidential election. This alliance has strengthened over time. Orban has been a vocal supporter of Trump's 2024 re-election campaign and visited Washington last October to negotiate an exemption for Hungary from US sanctions targeting Russian oil companies Rosneft and Lukoil.
Trump later clarified that the exemption was a personal agreement between himself and Orban, implying that any successor to Orban would need to renegotiate the terms if Orban were to lose the election.
Hungary's Energy Dependence and Challenges
Hungary remains one of the few EU countries resisting Brussels' calls to reduce reliance on Russian fossil fuels. In Washington, Orban committed to increasing purchases of US liquefied natural gas (LNG) and acquiring US nuclear technology and fuel. Hungary depends heavily on Russian oil delivered via the Druzhba pipeline from the east and Russian gas through the TurkStream pipeline from the south.
Both supply routes have encountered difficulties. Since late January, no oil has been transported through the Druzhba pipeline, which crosses Ukraine. Orban attributes this disruption to Ukraine's failure to restore the pipeline following a Russian attack on oil infrastructure in western Ukraine on 27 January.
Notably, the Trump administration has not publicly supported Hungary regarding the pipeline issue. To mitigate potential shortages, Hungary has released fuel reserves and imported non-Russian oil through an alternative pipeline originating in Croatia.
A new complication arose on Sunday when the Serbian government, Hungary's southern neighbor, announced that explosives were discovered and neutralized near the TurkStream gas pipeline close to the Hungarian border.
Orban and pro-government media characterized the incident as a terror attack targeting Hungary's energy supply. However, former Hungarian intelligence officials and opposition leader Peter Magyar accused Orban of orchestrating the event with Serbian President Alexander Vucic to enhance his re-election prospects.
Orban's Campaign and Controversies
Orban has made opposition to Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, a central theme of his election campaign.
Recent scandals appear to have affected his popularity. Leaked private telephone conversations between Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto and senior Russian officials over several years suggest that Szijjarto regularly informed the Russian government about confidential discussions at European Union summits and lobbied to remove Russian officials from sanctions lists at Moscow's request. Szijjarto has defended these calls as "normal diplomacy."
Orban is hopeful that Vance's visit will influence undecided Hungarian voters to support him once again as a strong and internationally respected leader during turbulent times.
