FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in the Hungarian capital on Monday for meetings with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his government, during which they plan to sign a civil nuclear cooperation agreement announced by US President Donald Trump.
The visit comes less than two months before Hungary's parliamentary elections on April 12.
Trump has openly expressed his support for the nationalist Orbán in the Hungarian leader's re-election bid. In two months. Orbán and his Fidesz party are facing their most serious challenge in the April 12 vote since he regained power in 2010.
The stop in the Hungarian capital comes after Rubio's visit to Slovakia on Sunday, after he previously attended the Munich Security Conference in Germany.
Led by Eurosceptic populists who oppose support for Ukraine and vocally support Trump, Slovakia and Hungary represent friendly territory for Rubio as he pushes forward with energy deals with the two Central European countries.
Hungary's April 12 elections are expected to be among the most important of the year in the EU. Voters will elect a new 199-seat national assembly under the country's mixed electoral system, with Viktor Orbán facing his biggest electoral challenge after 16 years in power.
Under Orbán, Hungary has repeatedly tried to block EU sanctions against Russia, vetoed the release of billions of euros in funds to reimburse other EU countries providing military aid to Ukraine, and used Budapest's veto power in Brussels as a way to prolong urgent EU decisions.
Hungary's far-right leader has long been at odds with the EU, which has frozen billions of dollars in funding for Budapest over concerns that he has dismantled democratic institutions, eroded judicial independence and overseen widespread corruption.
In a speech on Saturday, Orbán compared the EU to the oppressive Soviet regime that dominated Hungary for more than 40 years last century. However, his message does not seem to be reaching voters in the way he might hope. Polls show Orbán and his Fidesz party trailing the opposition Tisza party of Péter Magyar.
Magyar, a former Fidesz member, has pledged to root out corruption and impose term limits on future leaders. He has focused on issues such as low wages and rapidly rising living costs that have made Hungary one of the poorest countries in the EU.
On Sunday, Magyar cited meetings he held with many European leaders at the Munich Security Conference over the weekend and said he would put an end to "Hungary's exit from the European Union," as was the case under Orbán.
Lini një Përgjigje