US vice president JD Vance has flown to Hungary in an attempt to boost its nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s chances in the country’s upcoming general election.
The vice president arrived in Budapest, Hungary‘s capital, on Tuesday for the two-day visit, during which he is has met Mr Orban and is due to appear at one of his campaign rallies.
It is a clear signal of the extent to which Donald Trump and his administration support the long-serving prime minister, who has fallen behind his rival in the polls and appears to be facing the prospect of losing his grip on power after more than 16 years, when Hungarians vote in parliamentary elections on Sunday.
Here, Sky News looks at why this could be such a significant election for Hungary, why Mr Orban has Mr Trump’s support, and at Peter Magyar, the opposition leader who could finally unseat the prime minister.
Why could this election be so momentous?
Mr Orban and his Fidesz party are facing their most challenging election since they returned to power, after eight years in opposition, in 2010.
Most independent polls put Mr Magyar and his centre-right Tisza party ahead of the incumbent, though many have said they are still undecided on who they will vote for. Many polls have shown a double-digit lead for Tisza among those who are decided.
Mr Vance’s visit comes just two days since Mr Orban claimed explosives found near a pipeline supplying Russian gas to Hungary and Serbia were “an act of sabotage”. Without blaming Ukraine directly, he said Kyiv “has been for years trying to cut off Europe from Russian energy”.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry strongly rejected the claims, with its spokesperson saying: “Ukraine has nothing to do with this. Most probably, [it was] a Russian false-flag operation as part of Moscow’s heavy interference in Hungarian elections.”
Who is Viktor Orban?
During his tenure as prime minister, Mr Orban has become celebrated among the global far-right.
His administration has pursued hardline anti-immigration policies, limited LGBTQ+ rights, clamped down on freedom of the press and attacked universities and non profit groups.
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Mr Orban has also been one of Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s biggest allies in Europe. In contrast with most European Union countries, Hungary has refused to provide Ukraine with financial aid or weapons since Moscow invaded in 2022.
The prime minister has frequently used his EU veto power to block support for Kyiv and limit sanctions on Moscow. Last month, he blocked the EU from providing Ukraine with a €90bn loan to help it keep fighting for two more years.
Hungary has also continued to buy Russian oil despite EU attempts to reduce the bloc’s reliance on Russian energy.
Why does Trump like Hungary’s prime minister so much?
Mr Trump has repeatedly called for Mr Orban to be re-elected as prime minister, with many of his supporters approving his stance on immigration, LGBTQ+ rights and opposition to the media and academia.
Before his vice president’s visit, Mr Trump’s secretary of state Marco Rubio travelled to Budapest in February, where he celebrated Mr Orban and spoke highly of the “person-to-person connection” he has established with Mr Trump.
“President Trump is deeply committed to your success because your success is our success,” he told Mr Orban.
In November, Hungary was granted an exemption from US sanctions on Russian oil and gas after Mr Orban met with Mr Trump at the White House.
When Mr Orban hosted dozens of his European and worldwide allies at a Hungarian conservative conference last month, Mr Trump sent a video message saying Mr Orban had his “complete and total endorsement” and praised the prime minister as a “fantastic guy”.
The relationship has gone both ways, with Mr Orban being the first European leader to endorse Mr Trump during his 2016 presidential bid. He has also repeated Mr Trump’s false claims he won the election in 2020 – claiming before Mr Trump began his second term that Democrats “took the presidency away from Donald Trump through fraud”.
Who is Peter Magyar?
Mr Magyar heads up the centre-right Tisza party and represents the greatest threat to Mr Orban and his Fidesz party’s electoral prospects.
He has argued Sunday’s vote is a “referendum” on whether Hungary continues its drift towards Moscow or retakes its place among Europe’s democracies.
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Mr Magyar, a former ally of Mr Orban, has blasted the prime minister and his government for making Hungary the “poorest and most corrupt” country in the EU and said a “peaceful, humane and functioning” country could come about if he was elected.
He has campaigned on issues he believes affect the everyday lives of Hungarians, such as the country’s state health care system and public transport sectors, as well as against what he has described as rampant government corruption.
Mr Magyar has also said he would work to restore Hungary’s relationship with the EU if he were elected, telling the Associated Press he would pursue a “constructive but critical” relationship with the bloc.
He said Sunday’s election will be “a referendum on our country’s place in the world”.
