{"id":43615,"date":"2026-04-07T07:45:05","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T07:45:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=43615"},"modified":"2026-04-07T07:45:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T07:45:05","slug":"jd-vance-due-in-budapest-to-back-viktor-orbans-election-campaign-europe-live-hungary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=43615","title":{"rendered":"JD Vance due in Budapest to back Viktor Orb\u00e1n\u2019s election campaign \u2013 Europe live | Hungary"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Morning opening: JD Vance in Budapest<\/h2>\n
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\"Jakub<\/div>\n

Jakub Krupa<\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n

The US vice-president JD Vance is en route to Budapest this morning, where he is expected to support the embattled prime minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n<\/a> in the final days of the campaign before this weekend\u2019s crucial parliamentary election in Hungary.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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<\/svg><\/span>US vice-president JD Vance waves as he boards Air Force Two to depart for Budapest, at Joint Base Andrews, Md.<\/span> Photograph: Jonathan Ernst\/AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Departing from Joint Base Andrews last night, JD Vance said he was looking forward to meeting his \u201cfriend Viktor,\u201d<\/strong> and said that the pair would discuss not just the state of the US-Hungarian relations, but also broader issues on Europe and Ukraine.<\/p>\n

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His visit is likely to be seen as somewhat unprecedented involvement<\/strong> in a foreign electoral campaign, highlighting the importance of Orb\u00e1n \u2013 a regular critic of Brussels and Europe\u2019s migration policies \u2013 for Maga worldview. In January, nearly a dozen rightwing leaders came together<\/a> to endorse Orb\u00e1n in a video and last month they attended a \u201cPatriots\u201d rally in Budapest.<\/p>\n

But Orb\u00e1n is also a rare Russian ally in Europe<\/a>, who keeps blocking the EU\u2019s support for Ukraine \u2013 including the latest \u20ac90bn loan \u2013 and stricter sanctions on Moscow as part of his escalating spat with Kyiv over energy supplies.<\/p>\n

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Vance is expected to land in Budapest this morning before appearing alongside Orb\u00e1n at a joint press conference<\/strong> around lunch and joining him for a rally on \u201cthe Hungarian-American Friendship Day\u201d<\/strong> this afternoon.<\/p>\n

There are, however, some doubts whether any of that is really going to help Orb\u00e1n much<\/strong> as he continues to trail the opposition by some 10 percentage points as the campaign focuses on the government\u2019s domestic record, including on the economy.<\/p>\n

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I will bring you all the lines from Budapest here.<\/p>\n

Separately, the former French president and one time prison memoir writer<\/a> Nicolas Sarkozy<\/strong> is back in court for his Libyan case appeal hearing, and the Danish coalition talks continue<\/strong> as they seek for a majority to form the next government.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Tuesday, 7 April 2026,<\/strong> it\u2019s Jakub Krupa<\/strong> here, and this is Europe Live.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Good morning.<\/strong><\/p>\n