US Vice President JD Vance lavished praise on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban as the pair met at the high point of the veteran leader's campaign for re-election.
Many opinion polls suggest Mr Orban will lose Sunday's vote to centre-right challenger Peter Magyar's Tisza party.
The Eurosceptic nationalist, who has been in power since 2010, is facing the toughest re-election bid of his career.
Mr Vance's visit on Tuesday underscores how crucial US President Donald Trump's Maga movement deems Mr Orban's re-election. Mr Trump has already personally endorsed Mr Orban, 62, as “a truly strong and powerful leader”.
“The relationship and friendship between Hungary and the United States is very important to us,” Mr Vance told Mr Orban before they entered talks behind closed doors.
“In part, because we love the Hungarian people and this amazing nation and culture, but in part because the President loves you, and so do I, because you're such an important part of what has made Europe strong and prosperous.”
Mr Vance and his wife Usha were greeted at the airport in Budapest by Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, who said the visit illustrated “a new golden age in US-Hungary relations”.
Mr Vance and Mr Orban discussed migration, global security, economic and energy co-operation, Mr Szijjarto said. Bloomberg reported that Hungarian oil company MOL was set to agree to buy 500,000 tonnes of oil from the US for about $500 million.
The rare in-person gesture of support for Mr Orban by a senior US official is the latest example of Mr Trump's efforts to prop up like-minded right-wing leaders, such as in Argentina and Japan.
In a post on X ahead of Mr Vance's arrival, opposition leader Mr Magyar warned against foreign interference ahead of the Hungarian election.
“This is our country,” he wrote. “Hungarian history is not written in Washington, Moscow, or Brussels – it is written in Hungary's streets and squares.”
Far-right relations
Mr Orban’s self-described “illiberal democracy” includes themes of Trump-era America – strict anti-immigration policies, disdain for liberal attitudes, hostility towards global institutions and criticism of the media, universities and non-profit groups. Mr Orban was the first European leader to endorse Mr Trump during his 2016 presidential bid.
Mr Orban has long been at odds with the EU over a variety of issues, including Ukraine. He has maintained cordial ties with Moscow, refuses to send weapons to Ukraine and said Kyiv should never join the EU.
On a trip to Hungary in February, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration was focused on Mr Orban's success, making clear that the continuation of robust ties with Budapest depended on Mr Orban's re-election. Mr Rubio suggested the US could provide financial assistance, although he did not elaborate.
Mr Trump's “America first” agenda and military campaigns have deepened the rift with Europe during his second term. Far-right and populist movements in Europe are beginning to sour on Washington's leadership despite sharing similar opinions on immigration and climate change. Some leaders have pushed back against Mr Trump's plan to acquire Greenland from Denmark and his tariff policy.
Political analysts say US support for Mr Orban, including Mr Vance's visit, may not be enough to sway voters, as domestic issues such as the cost of living dominate the election. “One wonders whether Vance's visit will boost or set back Orban's chances,” said Stephen Wertheim, historian and senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
“Orban positions himself as a bastion of geopolitical stability. Back in Washington, however, Vance's administration is waging a war on Iran that has predictably destabilised the Middle East and damaged European economies. More and more, America First isn't playing well with European nationalism.”
The trip briefly takes Mr Vance out of Washington, where Mr Trump and his senior aides are focused on the war in Iran, now in its sixth week with no clear end in sight. The conflict has increased energy prices, dragged down Mr Trump's approval ratings in polls and intensified Republican anxiety about the midterm elections in November.
Mr Vance, who opposes US entanglement in foreign wars, has played a role in indirect communications with Iran to end the war. He was among a handful of Trump aides who initially expressed caution about the conflict.
