Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Vice President JD Vance at a "Day of Friendship" rally in Budapest on April 7, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/Pool Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary is on the ropes in his latest bid for reelection, down by double-digit margins in the latest polls.
Vice President JD Vance, a star of the populist right, spent two days in Hungary this week ahead of Sunday’s voting — and predictably, local media made the visit a very big deal.
After all, Orbán and his Fidesz Party cronies control 80% of the press.
In his 16 years in office, Orbán has become a favorite among certain factions of the American right.
He has spoken at the US Conservative Political Action Conference — and even hosted his own version of CPAC back home.
Orbán portrays his nation as a bastion of traditional values, calling Hungary a “conservative island in the liberal European ocean” and denouncing the rise of “woke” liberal ideology.
His rhetoric hits many of the touchstones of the American conservative movement: Christianity, deep-rooted family values, strong borders and personal freedom.
But in truth, Orbán isn’t the conservative Vance and President Trump want to believe he is.
Hungary is far from a traditionalist paradise: Only about 11% percent of Hungarians are regular churchgoers, compared to nearby Poland’s 38%.
Christian leaders in Hungary have likened church-state relations in today’s Hungary to those of the Communist era, noting that even favored congregations have seen their freedoms erode under the Orbán government’s restrictions.
As a self-proclaimed freedom fighter, Orbán loves to tout Hungary’s supposed “democratic freedoms” to Trump as proof of shared values, but this too is an empty sentiment.
In addition to literally owning the media, Fidesz has carefully gerrymandered the country so that the party has been virtually assured of victory since 2010.
This president should be no fan of someone who steals elections.
Trump has also routinely praised Orbán for protecting Hungary from illegal migration.
But that success is nuanced: Hungary is not a primary immigrant destination.
It’s a transit country that economic migrants pass through as they make their way to the wealthier Western European nations, like Germany, that have earned Trump’s full ire.
Hungary’s constitution protects freedom of speech and of the press, but the Orbán regime has consistently assailed those rights, surveilling and silencing academics, nonprofits, independent media and opposition leaders.
Pro-government media outlets regularly smear Orbán’s political opponents.
Of greater concern to the United States, though, is that Hungary’s wannabe tyrant is working hard to ally his country — a member of both the European Union and NATO — with America’s authoritarian adversaries.
Orbán has been doing favors for China, Russia and the Iranian regime — reportedly offering last year to help the Kremlin “in any way” he can.
In 2024 Beijing and Budapest established “an all-weather strategic partnership,” deepening their economic and diplomatic ties.
This wasn’t just symbolic: From 2024 to 2025, Chinese exports to Hungary increased by almost 60%.
Hungary was the first EU nation to sign on to China’s insidious Belt and Road Initiative, which trades infrastructure for indebtedness.
Orbán isn’t just balancing between great powers; he’s betting on China’s long game.
The Hungarian strongman is friendly with Tehran, too.
At the outset of America’s combat operations against Iran, Orbán quickly complained that the war could trigger new waves of migration and jeopardize Hungarian energy security.
In 2015, he visited Tehran to sign a plethora of agreements that boosted economic collaboration; in 2024, Orbán signed a memorandum of understanding to expand trade and investment.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin appreciates Hungary as a partner happy to buy Russian oil despite sanctions.
On policies that displease Moscow, such as EU and NATO support of Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression, Hungary provides a reliable veto.
Right now, in fact, Orbán is blocking an EU loan that Ukraine desperately needs to sustain its war effort — funding that would give Trump vital leverage to convince Moscow to accept a peace deal with Kyiv.
Russia has reportedly been conducting pre-election influence operations to give Orbán a leg up in the closest contest of his career — and allegedly even considered staging a fake assassination attempt on him to spin up voter sympathy.
Orbán is not America’s ally, or even Trump’s own.
He’s an opportunist who masquerades as a conservative as he works hard to develop partnerships with Russia, China and even Iran.
His example of governance is not a model Washington should support.
If Hungary conducts a free and fair election on April 12, Europe will be plagued by one less authoritarian thug.
Rear Adm. (ret.) Mark Montgomery is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where Ivana Stradner is a research fellow.
