EU hits back after Vance and Kremlin attempt to boost Orbán before vote
· EUobserverThe EU, which, for years, has kicked the ‘Orbán problem’ into the long grass, could face a moment of peril in 2026. If it stands by, and allows the Hungarian premier to further erode and hijack his country’s democracy, we could well see total state capture play out in an EU member state. (Source: Wikimedia) (Source: Wikimedia)
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EU hits back after Vance and Kremlin attempt to boost Orbán before vote
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By Elena Sánchez Nicolás,
Brussels
,
EUobserver voice is a daily opinion piece by EUobserver staff writers, published every weekday morning
In a revealing alignment, the White House and the Kremlin both have found common ground in Budapest.
Following US vice-president JD Vance’s arrival in Hungary to slam “EU bureaucrats” for interfering in Sunday’s (12 April) crucial election, Moscow was quick to echo the MAGA rhetoric — portraying Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán as the victim.
And while Europe initially stayed silent on the ‘foreign interference’ accusations, several officials eventually pushed back at the sheer irony of the situation.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that many in Europe would like to see Orbán fall this weekend.
“This is well known, it’s obvious to the naked eye, and, of course, they’re playing into the hands of those forces that politically oppose Orbán and believe that publishing such materials could harm him,” Peskov said, when asked about leaked transcripts of a phone call between Orbán and Vladimir Putin last year, now reported by Bloomberg.
Meanwhile, Vance redoubled his interference accusations on Wednesday, saying: “The fact that so many foreign actors, whether they’re transnational organisations like the bureaucrats in Brussels or whether it’s foreign governments, are literally threatening the Hungarian people to vote this way or we’re going to exact our revenge on you — that should make you very angry.”
He admitted that his presence in Budapest just days before the polls was “unprecedented”. But in the MAGA world, there is always a way to justify the extraordinary.
“We thought there were so much garbage happening against Viktor in this election, that we had to show that there are actually a lot of people and a lot of friends across the world who recognise that Viktor and his government are doing a good job,” Vance said, effectively turning his visit into a full-on campaign event and show of loyalty to fellow nationalist-conservative Orbán.
Meanwhile, both the EU and German officials hit back at the interference accusations when pressed by journalists.
The fact that Vance is in Hungary “already shows, or speaks for itself, who is interfering in what”, said a German government spokesperson.
Attempting to reclaim the narrative and mocking Vance’s wording, one commission spokesperson said: “What the ‘European bureaucrats’ have been doing is [trying] to set out a strong framework to make sure that the elections remain in the hands of our citizens”.
He was referring to new EU digital rules that aim to hold online platforms accountable for their content and algorithms. “Thanks to this, election interference is hardly possible by online platforms in Europe,” he claimed.
“We also have our diplomatic channels and we will be using these also to convey our concerns to our US counterparts,” another commission spokesperson said.
But when pressed further on the nature of such concerns, the official said the EU was “not in the business of disclosing what we talk about with our partners.”
“We have appropriate channels, appropriate frameworks, diplomatic contacts, [and] the joint statement. That is a framework in which we discuss matters of relevance with our partners. And that is where we will be bringing the discussions with the United States if they consider it something worthwhile pursuing with us,” a third spokesperson said.
This ‘art of not answering’ is not merely a PR tactic, but a de facto survival strategy, designed to prevent further deterioration in transatlantic relations. We saw it with Gaza, Greenland and the threat of a global trade war.
And while the EU might have all the rules in place, the populists have the microphone.
If the EU cannot defend its own democratic processes against external interference or call it out for fear of upsetting its “partners,” then the promise of a”sovereign Europe” is little more than noise.
For Orbán, meanwhile, this seems like the ultimate campaign gift.
It allows him to present himself to Hungarians as backed by the world’s two superpowers, with his coalition of “peace” as the centrepiece of his campaign.
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The EU, which, for years, has kicked the ‘Orbán problem’ into the long grass, could face a moment of peril in 2026. If it stands by, and allows the Hungarian premier to further erode and hijack his country’s democracy, we could well see total state capture play out in an EU member state. (Source: Wikimedia) (Source: Wikimedia)
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Elena Sánchez Nicolás is EUobserver’s editor-in-chief. She joined EUobserver in 2019.