Vance’s whirlwind visit may not help Orbán to the election victory he craves

As the US vice-president wades into a heated campaign, Hungary’s leader faces the real possibility of defeat

Even before the plane carrying JD and Usha Vance had landed in Budapest, the Hungarian government had hailed their two-day visit as a new golden age in the relationship between Washington and Budapest.

What came next was a whirlwind of politics in which the US vice-president waded directly into the country’s heated election campaign, just days before Hungarians cast their ballots.