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Thursday 9 April 2026

EU registers ‘concerns’ at Vance’s rallying cry for Viktor Orbán

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The EU has conveyed its “concerns” to the US over JD Vance’s attempts to sway an upcoming election in Hungary. Vance travelled to Budapest this week under the guise of celebrating a friendship day between the two countries. On Tuesday, he took to the stage at a Viktor Orbán rally. He accused the EU of “foreign election interference” and urged Hungarian voters to “stand with” Orbán, the right-wing incumbent who has dismantled his country’s democratic institutions during a 16-year stint in office. This intervention is familiar ground for Vance, who has stayed fairly quiet over the Iran war but appears to have it in for Europe. It could, though, be in vain. Orbán trails in the polls and the election is on Sunday.

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