Overview
- Vance, who arrived Tuesday, met Viktor Orbán and planned to speak at a campaign rally in Budapest five days before Hungary votes.
- At a joint press event, he accused EU “bureaucrats in Brussels” of trying to meddle in the election and hurt Hungary’s economy and energy security, pointing to Brussels’ funding freezes tied to rule‑of‑law disputes.
- He praised Orbán as “wise” and predicted he would win, while opposition leader Péter Magyar called the visit foreign interference and said Hungarians should decide their future without outside pressure.
- Recent polling shows Fidesz trailing Magyar’s Tisza alliance by roughly six to ten points, and survey firms report about a quarter of voters remain undecided ahead of Sunday’s vote.
- The stop follows February’s show of support from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s March endorsement, signaling a rare break from the usual U.S. practice of avoiding high‑profile visits right before allied elections.