US Vice President, JD Vance has criticised the European Union, accusing it of blatantly interfering in Hungary’s upcoming elections.
Speaking from Hungary’s capital, Vance lashed out at the EU for what he said was “one of the worst examples of foreign election interference that I’ve ever seen or ever even read about.” He said, “I won’t tell the people of Hungary how to vote,” adding, “I would encourage the bureaucrats in Brussels to do the exact same thing.”
“The bureaucrats in Brussels have tried to destroy the economy of Hungary. They have tried to make Hungary less energy-independent. They have tried to drive up costs for Hungarian consumers. And they’ve done it all because they hate this guy.”
JD Vance
Hungarians are due to cast their votes in a pivotal parliamentary election on Sunday, in which Orbán is facing an unprecedented challenge from Péter Magyar, a former top member of the ruling Fidesz party.
Also, Vance told reporters that he was aware of Ukrainian intelligence services trying to “put the thumb” on the scale of American elections.
He singled out “people in the Ukrainian system” who had campaigned alongside Democrats before the 2024 US presidential election. Vance’s attack on Brussels came amid mounting scrutiny over Budapest’s ties to the Kremlin.
Orbán has long been the EU’s most Moscow-friendly leader, maintaining Hungary’s heavy reliance on Russian oil and gas. Vance praised Orbán for being a “great example” in Europe on energy security and independence, in what appeared to be a reference to Hungary’s continued reliance on the imports of Russian oil and gas.
Vance said that European leaders, in contrast, had made a “huge mistake” in cutting off oil and natural gas from the “east.” Last month, a report showed that Hungary’s reliance on Russia had increased since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with Russia now accounting for 93% of the country’s crude oil imports compared with 61% in 2021.
Vance In Hungary To Help Orbán’s Reelection Bid
US Vice President JD Vance said from Hungary’s capital that he was “here to help” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán‘s reelection bid.
Vance’s remarks marks the clearest sign yet that President Donald Trump’s administration is going all-in for an Orbán victory when Hungarians go to the polls on Sunday.
Vance’s two-day visit to Budapest is a bid to turn the tide in Orbán’s election campaign where the long-serving leader, a close Trump ally, is trailing in the polls.
Orbán is running for his fifth-straight term as Prime Minister. He and his nationalist-populist Fidesz party are facing their toughest race in two decades against a center-right challenger, the Tisza party led by Péter Magyar, that could bring an end to Orbán’s 16 years in power.
Yet speaking at a joint news conference with Orbán at his headquarters in Budapest’s Carmelite Monastery, Vance campaigned openly for the prime minister, saying that he wanted to “help as much as I possibly can” ahead of the April 12 vote
Long accused by critics of taking over Hungary’s institutions, clamping down on press freedom and overseeing entrenched political corruption; charges he denies.
Orbán has become an icon in the global far-right movement. Trump has repeatedly endorsed Orbán’s candidacy for reelection, and many in the Make America Great Again movement approve of the Hungarian leader’s opposition to immigration, curtailing of LGBTQ+ rights, and capture of the media and academia.
However, with most independent polls showing a double-digit deficit for Fidesz among decided voters ahead of the April 12 vote, Orbán has sought to boost his profile by appearing publicly with his international admirers.
Commenting on whether the US administration would be willing to work with another Hungarian government if Orbán failed to win another term, Vance said yes, but that he did not expect a change in government. “Viktor Orbán is going to win the next election in Hungary, so I feel very confident about that and about our continued positive relationship,” he said.
Vance’s visit wasn’t the first gesture of support for Orbán’s reelection. In February, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Budapest where he enthusiastically praised Orbán and the “person-to-person connection” he’d established with the president, telling Orbán that Trump was “deeply committed to your success, because your success is our success.”
Late last month, Orbán hosted dozens of allies from around Europe and beyond at the Hungarian iteration of the Conservative Political Action Conference, and at a meeting of the far-right Patriots for Europe party family, the third-largest group in the European Parliament. Trump sent a video message to CPAC Hungary, saying Orbán had his “complete and total endorsement” and was a “fantastic guy.”
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