Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a key European ally of the Trump administration, faces a tough set of parliamentary elections this weekend but he now has one supporter firmly on his side after U.S. Vice-President JD Vance landed in Budapest on Tuesday to offer his support.
The BBC reports Vance is expected to join a press conference before addressing an election rally with Orbán in a football stadium on Tuesday afternoon.
The 12 April election is billed as Orbán’s toughest challenge in a political career going back almost 40 years and he sees the Western world’s aspirations being embodied by his own campaign for a return to office, as Breitbart News reported.
He has claimed four elections in a row since 2010.
The BBC report notes:
Vance and his wife Usha were welcomed by Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó who told Hungarian media that Orbán’s friendship with President Donald Trump had created a “new golden age” in relations.
Last month, Trump said Orbán had his “complete and total support” in a video message to the Hungarian Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Budapest.
On Sunday Orbán faces Péter Magyar, a former insider in the prime minister’s Fidesz party, who broke with him two years ago to found the centre-right Tisza party.
Tisza leads Fidesz by between 10 percent and 20 percent in most polls. Only the strongly pro-government Nézőpont agency puts Fidesz narrowly ahead, the BBC report makes clear.
Orbán, 62, is hoping Vance’s visit will impress undecided Hungarian voters enough to back him once again as a strong and internationally respected leader in turbulent times.
“I’m looking forward to seeing my good friend Viktor, and we’ll talk about any number of things related to the US-Hungary relationship,” Vance told reporters as he left Washington, DC, earlier.
“Obviously, I’m sure Europe and Ukraine and all the other stuff will figure in pretty prominently.”
Follow Simon Kent on Twitter: Follow @SunSimonKent or e-mail to: skent@breitbart.com
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