\n<\/p>\n
Even before the plane carrying JD and Usha Vance had landed in Budapest, the Hungarian government had hailed their two-day visit as a new golden age in the relationship between Washington and Budapest.<\/p>\n
What came next was a whirlwind of politics in which the US vice-president waded directly into the country\u2019s heated<\/a> election campaign, just days before Hungarians cast their ballots.<\/p>\n As Vance crisscrossed the capital, turning up at the city\u2019s Carmelite monastery and a later at a pre-election rally, he lauded Viktor Orb\u00e1n<\/a> and lambasted the US and Hungary\u2019s \u201cshared threat from within\u201d of far-left ideology in universities, media and entertainment, all while breaking sharply with the unspoken convention that has long kept most politicians from playing an active role in foreign elections.<\/p>\n Vance\u2019s sharpest criticism of the day was reserved for the EU<\/a> in comments that were likely to roil the already tense transatlantic relationship. Vance attacked the bloc, accusing it of foreign interference, even as he repeatedly stressed he had travelled to Hungary to \u201chelp\u201d Orb\u00e1n in the elections.<\/p>\n Hours later Vance joined Orb\u00e1n at a pre-election rally, sending the packed football stadium into a frenzy as he dialled up Donald Trump<\/a> and put the US president on speaker. \u201cI love Hungary and I love that Viktor,\u201d Trump told the cheering crowd as Vance held up the phone, describing him as a \u201cfantastic man\u201d.<\/p>\n The president, who earlier had warned<\/a> that \u201ca whole civilization will die tonight\u201d if Tehran did not accept his demands in the US war in Iran, appeared to shift easily into campaign mode. \u201cHe\u2019s kept your country good,\u201d he told the crowd, as giant flags of the US and Hungary hung from the rafters. \u201cAnd let me tell you, I like him a lot but if I didn\u2019t think he did a good job, I wouldn\u2019t be making a call like this.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the president\u2019s eldest son was in Bosnia\u2019s Serb Republic, making a show of support for its ousted pro-Russian leader Milorad Dodik, and criticising the European Union as \u201ca disaster\u201d.<\/p>\n Vance\u2019s visit thrusts the US administration into a hard-fought campaign in which most polls suggest<\/a> Orb\u00e1n is facing the possibility of losing his 16-year grip on power. As Hungarians grapple with economic stagnation, deteriorating public services and rampant corruption, Orb\u00e1n is facing an unprecedented challenge from P\u00e9ter Magyar, a former top member of Orb\u00e1n\u2019s Fidesz party.<\/p>\n While officials in Budapest had held hopes that Trump himself would show up to help the Orb\u00e1n campaign, they erupted in excitement<\/a> when the White House confirmed Vance\u2019s visit.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, as Air Force Two landed in Budapest, the country\u2019s foreign minister, P\u00e9ter Szijj\u00e1rt\u00f3, described the visit as historic. \u201cThere is no question that this is a golden age for Hungarian-American relations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The day laid bare the shared playbook between Orb\u00e1n and the Maga movement as the leaders railed against Brussels, migration, Ukraine and praised what Vance described as \u201cthe values of western civilisation.\u201d<\/p>\n Throughout it all, Vance made little effort to conceal his intentions. \u201cI am here for a simple reason, because I admire what you are fighting for,\u201d he told the evening rally, sending the sea of Hungarian flags waving. \u201cYou are fighting for your freedom, for your sovereignty, and I am here because President Trump and I wish for your success and we are fighting right here with you.\u201d<\/p>\n There was no mention, however, of the grievances that have propelled the opposition Tisza party to the top of the polls; a long-neglected public health system, wages that remain the third lowest in the EU and systemic corruption that ranks as the worst in the bloc.<\/p>\n Nor was there any mention of the scandals that have dogged Orb\u00e1n during the campaign, from the allegations<\/a> that Russian intelligence agencies, along with disinformation networks with links to Russia, were working to sway the election in his favour to the call<\/a> in which Orb\u00e1n reportedly told Vladimir Putin: \u201cI am at your service\u201d.<\/p>\n The clash of narratives has given rise to a polarising electoral campaign, in which Orb\u00e1n has sought to portray the war in Ukraine as the country\u2019s greatest threat, arguing that his personal relationships with world leaders makes him singularly capable of keeping Hungary<\/a> peaceful, while Magyar has called on Hungarians to cast their vote based on domestic issues.<\/p>\n Even as the visit made headlines across the globe, analysts doubted it would do much to shift the election result. \u201cThe vast majority of Hungary\u2019s 7.6 million voters have made up their minds regarding where their crosses are going on Sunday\u2019s ballots,\u201d said Mujtaba Rahman, the managing director for Europe<\/a> at Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy on social media. \u201cFew of the 350,000 or so who haven\u2019t and who might yet vote are likely to be persuaded by the razzmatazz provided by Vance\u2019s soiree in town.\u201d<\/p>\n Adding to this was the fact that Trump\u2019s popularity among Hungarian society is questionable, while far fewer know who Vance is, said M\u00e1rton Bene, a political analyst at the TK Institute for Political Science in Budapest. \u201c[Trump\u2019s] support in itself constitutes a real advantage only in the eyes of an increasingly narrow segment of voters.\u201d<\/p>\n However, Bene saw potential for Vance\u2019s visit to stir up controversy in the days after the election, given Vance\u2019s sharp accusations of electoral interference from Brussels. \u201cThis provided an external reference point, articulated at the highest level, for that narrative, which could later offer important discursive resources for attempts to question the election result,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n But the visit could have done more harm for Orb\u00e1n than good, added Bene. For months the prime minister had sought to argue that he \u2013 and his connections \u2013 were the only means of keeping Hungary safe in a volatile world. During the press conference, however, Vance had said the US administration would work with any Hungarian administration that was elected.<\/p>\n \u201cP\u00e9ter Magyar was quick to seize on this statement,\u201d said Bene, in a reference to the swift rejoinder the opposition candidate posted on social media, in which he said a Tisza government would regard the US as a key partner.<\/p>\n The result, said Bene, had \u201ccast doubt\u201d on one of the central claims of Orb\u00e1n\u2019s campaign \u2013 one that the entire visit was aimed at highlighting. \u201cNamely, that effective Hungarian interest representation is conceivable only through Orb\u00e1n\u2019s personal relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n