Russia and White House doing all they can to prop up Viktor Orbán

Hungary’s ‘post-reality’ election will have global ramifications as populists on both sides of the Atlantic rush to support Viktor Orbán, their autocratic ally within the EU, writes Mick Clifford

US vice president JD Vance  and Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán shake hands as they meet in Budapest, Hungary,  ahead of the election on Sunday. Picture: Jonathan Ernst /AFP via Getty Images

On Tuesday, as Donald Trump was threatening to end one civilisation, his deputy was in Budapest, attempting to save another.

“What the United States and Hungary together represent under Viktor’s [Orbán] leadership and under president Trump’s leadership is the defence of Western civilisation,” JD Vance told a rally.