Vance to visit Hungary ahead of tough April election, foreign minister says

BUDAPEST, March 20 (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President JD Vance will visit Hungary in early April ahead of what could be right-wing ​Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s toughest election since taking power ‌in a 2010 landslide, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Friday.

Two sources familiar with the planning told Reuters on Wednesday that Vance was planning ​to visit Hungary in a show of support for ​Orban, who trails his centre-right challenger Peter Magyar ahead ⁠of an April 12 election based on most surveys.

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The ​trip follows U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s trip to Budapest ​in February to publicly back Orban, who is grappling with a weak economy, an energy price shock and a rival seen as a viable ​alternative.

“The U.S. vice president will be coming to Hungary, ​if I know correctly, sometime in early April,” Szijjarto told the Otpontban podcast. “This ‌is ⁠the result of excellent U.S.-Hungary relations, that there are personal meetings from time to time.”

Szijjarto did not give further details about timing.

Orban, one of U.S. President Donald Trump’s closest allies ​in Europe, has ​long been ⁠at loggerheads with the EU over a range of issues, including Ukraine. Defying Brussels, he has ​maintained cordial ties with Moscow, refuses to ​send weapons ⁠to Ukraine, and says Kyiv can never join the European Union.

Trump endorsed Orban last month, calling him “a truly strong and powerful Leader” ⁠in ​a social media post and many ​on the American right consider him a model for Trump’s tough immigration policies ​and support for Christian conservatism.

Reporting by Gergely Szakacs Editing by Rod Nickel

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