Vance Backs Orban Ahead of Hungarian Elections

0:00I'm Cory with the story, and you've been listening to Europe News today, AI-powered European coverage. U.S. Vice President JD Vance just touched down in Budapest to back Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban right before this Sunday's big parliamentary elections. His plane landed before 9 a.m. today, and he's set to meet Orban at the Carmelite Monastery, then give a speech on the strong U.S. Hungary ties. This comes after Secretary of State Marco Rubio's visit back in mid-February, where he straight up wished Orban success. Securities locked down tight across the capital, with cops everywhere, and barriers along the route for their joint press conference later. Foreign Minister Peter Zidrato called it a golden age for Hungarian-American relations, shouting out the personal bond between Donald Trump and Aishai, Orban. Orban's held power for 16 years, pushing an illiberal style close to Moscow, but now faces a real threat from Peter Magyar's pro-European Tisa. Party. Poles are split pro-government ones, predict Orban's fidesc coalition wins big, while

1:04independency tis is sweeping in after Magyar built this. Opposition force in just two years. Trump's team is ditching old U.S. caution on foreign votes, openly boosting ideological allies like Orban. They line up on anti-Migrant stances from the refugee crisis a decade back, and Orban's even hit up Mar-a-Lago multiple times. With elections days away, Vance's move signals how deep his partnership runs, eyes on what shakes out Sunday.