BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) 鈥� U.S. Vice President JD Vance will visit Hungary days before Prime Minister Viktor Orb谩n is set to face his toughest election challenge in two decades, according to Hungary’s foreign minister.
Vance’s office has not confirmed the trip.
The nationalist Orb谩n, who has been in power since 2010 and is looking for his fifth consecutive election victory on April 12, faces an from the center-right Tisza and its leader, P茅ter Magyar.
Trailing in most polls, Orb谩n has embarked on a nationwide campaign tour in an effort to shore up support.
Magyar, who has promised to restore Hungary’s democratic institutions that have eroded under Orb谩n and steer the country , has tested what once seemed an unshakable grip on power by the pro-Russian populist.
Speaking on a podcast that aired on Friday, Foreign Minister P茅ter Szijj谩rt贸 said Vance’s visit 鈥渟tems from the very intensive Hungarian鈥揂merican intergovernmental relationship.鈥� He did not specify a date when Vance might arrive in Hungary.
Vance’s planned trip would come after Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited the capital Budapest last month, where he .
Orb谩n is one of Trump鈥檚 most vocal supporters in the European Union, and has actively curried the U.S. president鈥檚 favor leading up to the April vote. Orb谩n earlier expressed his hopes that Trump would make his own trip to Hungary before the election.
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AP writer Michelle L. Price contributed.
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