Yesterday, Orbán promised to continue his offensive against “bought pseudo-civil society organizations, journalists, judges, and politicians,” similar to what Donald Trump is doing in the United States.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio continues his European tour today. He will visit two countries led by Donald Trump’s allies – Slovakia and Hungary – a day after his call to Europeans to defend Western civilization.

Yesterday, in a speech at the Munich Security Conference, Rubio called on Europeans to unite behind the US president’s vision for world order, while advocating for a revival of relations with a “strong” Europe. In Bratislava, where he will be for a few hours, Rubio will meet with Prime Minister Robert Fico, who claims to share the same nationalist ideology as the American president. During a recent visit to Florida, Fico expressed concern about the US president’s mental state, according to Politico, citing anonymous European diplomats, but Washington and Bratislava have categorically denied this. After this meeting in Florida, the Slovak leader said he had held “extremely important” discussions with Donald Trump on nuclear energy.

After Bratislava, the US Secretary of State will travel to Budapest for meetings on Monday with Hungarian authorities, including Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Donald Trump has made no secret of his support for the Hungarian nationalist leader, whom he describes as a “strong and powerful man,” ahead of the parliamentary elections scheduled for April 12. Viktor Orbán faces his biggest challenge since returning to power in 2010, with his Fidesz party trailing the opposition Tisz party in pre-election opinion polls.

Yesterday, Orbán promised to continue his offensive against “bought pseudo-civil society organizations, journalists, judges, and politicians,” similar to what Donald Trump is doing in the United States. The Hungarian prime minister also announced his intention to travel to Washington next week to attend the inaugural meeting of the US president’s “Peace Council.” Viktor Orbán is particularly close to the Trump administration because of its anti-immigrant policy following the Syrian refugee crisis ten years ago. During Orbán’s visit to the White House last year, Hungary also received an exemption from US sanctions on imports of Russian oil and gas.

Former Democratic President Joe Biden had a much more hostile relationship with Orbán, whom he accused of “dictatorial tendencies,” particularly through pressure on independent media and campaigns against the rights of the LGBT+ community. During the Slovak and Hungarian legs of the trip, there will be a lot of talk about energy, US officials said ahead of the visit. These two landlocked Central European countries with close ties to the Kremlin are heavily dependent on Russian fossil fuels despite Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Slovakia and Hungary are in conflict with the European Union over the latter’s decision to phase out Russian gas imports. In this way, Washington intends to strengthen energy ties with its two right-wing allies. I BGNES, AFP