U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban attending an election campaign rally in Budapest, Hungary on Tuesday.Janos Kummer/Getty Images
U.S. President Donald Trump was only hours away from deciding whether to “wipe out a whole civilization” in Iran on Tuesday when he took time out to make a phone call to a campaign rally in Hungary.
During the brief call, broadcast to a throng of 5,000 supporters of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Mr. Trump offered a ringing endorsement.
“I love Hungary and I love that Viktor,” he told the cheering crowd gathered in the MTK Sportpark in Budapest. “He’s a fantastic man. We have a wonderful relationship.”
The call was fielded by U.S. Vice-President JD Vance, who is on a two-day campaign-style visit to Hungary ahead of the country’s national election on Sunday.
But the last-minute intervention may not be enough to save Mr. Orbán, who is facing the biggest challenge yet to his 16 years in power.
Polls show Mr. Orbán’s Fidesz party trailing the opposition Tisza by 10 points or more. Some pundits predict a sweeping victory for the upstart Tisza movement, which is led by former Fidesz insider Peter Magyar, a 45-year-old one-time diplomat who has campaigned relentlessly against corruption.
Hungary threatens to block new EU sanctions against Russia
Tuesday’s event was billed as a celebration of Hungarian-American relations, but it had all the hallmarks of a political convention, with thumping music and lots of campaign rhetoric.
“We have to get Viktor Orbán re-elected as Prime Minister of Hungary, don’t we?” Mr. Vance told the crowd. “I’m here because President Trump and I wish for your success, and we’re fighting right here with you.”
Mr. Vance also took several shots at the European Union, saying “faceless bureaucrats in faraway countries” have threatened Hungary’s sovereignty by “telling you how to live, how to pray, how to speak and how to govern yourself.”
During an earlier news conference with the 62-year-old Mr. Orbán, Mr. Vance accused the EU of meddling in the election by withholding funds earmarked for Hungary. “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,” he said.
In his speech, Mr. Orbán spoke about a “golden era” of Hungarian-American relations and railed against “progressive liberalism.” He also claimed that if Fidesz were to lose Sunday, Brussels would force Hungary to send soldiers to fight in Ukraine.
“We have to join forces,” he said, turning to Mr. Vance. “We must save Western civilization.”
Mr. Orbán has long been a favourite of Mr. Trump and far-right movements across Europe for taking on the EU and pursuing a populist, “anti-woke” agenda.
Trump’s first Board of Peace meeting yields relief pledges, troop commitments for Gaza
He’s also seen as the most pro-Russian leader in Europe and recently blocked a €90-billion EU funding package for Ukraine.
Throughout the campaign, he has targeted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and accused Kyiv of restricting the flow of oil via the Druzhba pipeline, which runs from Russia through Ukraine to several countries, including Hungary. The pipeline was damaged in January by Russian bombing, and Mr. Orbán has claimed that Ukraine has deliberately failed to resume its operation. “Don’t let Zelensky have the last laugh!” reads one Fidesz poster.
Last Sunday, Mr. Orbán alleged that Ukraine was behind a plot to blow up a portion of the pipeline near the Serbian-Hungarian border, a charge Kyiv denied and even Serbia hasn’t backed up.
Even some of those attending Tuesday’s rally questioned whether Mr. Vance’s appearance would make a difference on Sunday.
“People already know who they will vote for,” said Mihaly Vona as he waited in line to get into the Sportpark.
Others said Mr. Vance could have an impact, given how close the election has become.
“I think it’s a very big opportunity that the Vice-President comes,” said Petra Smith. “I hope Viktor Orbán wins. Because I’m a conservative Catholic mother and I want the best choice.”
Zselyke Csaky, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, doubted Mr. Vance’s visit would do much to change the outcome of the election.
Ms. Csaky said Mr. Orbán has tried to frame the campaign as a fight against foreign enemies, but voters care more about their economic prospects.
For Fidesz voters, Mr. Vance’s visit “shows that Orbán is a global player. But for everyone else that may not be the most important thing, because they don’t necessarily see Hungary winning from that position right now,” she said.
Much of Mr. Magyar’s success has come from tapping into Hungarians’ growing frustration with the sluggish economy, rising prices and rampant cronyism in the country of fewer than 10 million people.
He launched Tisza two years ago after breaking with Fidesz over allegations of corruption. Since then, he has managed to galvanize the fractured opposition and present himself as a credible conservative alternative to Mr. Orbán.
He has promised to invest in roads, schools and hospitals and set up a National Asset Recovery Office to investigate major corruption cases. And he has vowed to unlock nearly €20-billion in EU funds that have been frozen by Brussels over accusations that Mr. Orbán has undermined judicial independence, media freedoms and democratic institutions.
In a pointed message to Mr. Vance, Mr. Magyar said on Facebook: “No foreign country is allowed to interfere in the Hungarian elections. This is our country. Hungarian history is not written in Washington, Moscow or Brussels, but on Hungarian streets and squares.”
Outside the Sportpark, Luca Nagy, 29, said she was fed up with Fidesz but wasn’t quite sold on Mr. Magyar.
Like a lot of young people, she’s more focused on how to make ends meet. She lives with her father to save on rent and works occasionally as a tutor. Every couple of weeks she plays classical music on the street for tips.
She’d arrived at the Sportpark on Tuesday hoping to sell some small Hungarian flags for extra cash, but she got there too late. “I’m tired,” she said as she packed up the flags and walked away.