“Hungary has been a model for the Trump presidency for a while now,” the Guardian journalist Flora Garamvolgyi tells Helen Pidd. “And US Republicans looked at Hungary for these past years as a model to follow.
“[Viktor] Orbán is currently on his fourth consecutive term. And the fact that he has been so successful and he had similar narrative, similar ideologies to US Republicans in terms of immigration, for example, I think they have found a link to connect with Orbán and they were studying his success.”
On Tuesday, JD Vance appeared at a rally for Orbán in Budapest in the run-up to the Hungarian elections. He endorsed Orbán and phoned Donald Trump from the stage.
“I am here for a simple reason,” Vance told the crowd. “Because I admire what you are fighting for. You are fighting for your freedom, for your sovereignty, and I am here because President Trump and I wish for your success and we are fighting right here with you.”
But this election will be challenging for Orbán. Will Hungarians decide his time is up?
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