J. D. Vance in Budapest on foreign intervention, the EU, and Ukraine

Foreign interference targeting Hungary amounts to an attack on the country’s sovereignty, US Vice President J. D. Vance said on Wednesday at an event hosted by the Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC) in Budapest.

Vance argued that some actors do not treat EU financial pressure and what he described as pressure linked to energy supplies from Ukraine as “foreign interference”, even though, in his view, they should.

‘Unprecedented’ timing ahead of an election

Speaking about his visit to Budapest, Vance called it “unprecedented” for a sitting US vice president to travel to another country one week before an election.

“We are here because we thought Viktor had faced so many unfair attacks in this election that we had to show that he has many friends around the world who believe he is doing good work and is an important partner for peace,” he said.

EU funds and energy supplies framed as pressure

Vance criticised what he characterised as double standards in how pressure is defined.

“When the European Union withholds billions from Hungary because they protect their borders — that is supposedly not foreign interference,” he said.

He also referred to Ukraine “shutting down pipelines” and claimed this causes hardship for Hungarian people “to influence the election”, adding that this, too, is labelled by some as not being foreign interference.

Vance said that regardless of anyone’s opinion of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, such actions should be understood as a fundamental attack on sovereignty.

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Claim about Zelensky and conditional energy supplies

Vance said he had heard the previous day that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had spoken about energy supplies in the context of elections, after Orbán raised the issue with him.

According to J. D. Vance, Zelensky’s message was: “If you don’t vote this way, you won’t get any more energy.”

Vance argued that if a foreign leader makes energy supplies conditional in this way, it can be interpreted as pressure intended to influence voters.

He called it unacceptable when other governments “literally tell the Hungarian people how to vote, otherwise they will face retaliation”.

He stressed that it is up to Hungarians to decide who leads the country, adding that the United States has not applied this type of pressure on Hungary because it respects Hungarian sovereignty and the decisions of voters.

Comments on Ukraine war and the Middle East

On the war in Ukraine, Vance said the parties had already put on paper what they want for a settlement, and that their positions are “getting closer” to each other. He added that “the war is no longer really understandable”, and asked whether it is worth losing “hundreds of thousands of young lives” over “a few square kilometres”.

On the Middle East, he said a fragile ceasefire had been reached after Iran agreed to certain conditions — including opening straits — while the United States and its allies committed to halting attacks. In his view, this shows there is room for diplomatic progress if parties are willing to take concrete steps to reduce tensions.

‘We love Europe’, but criticism of its leadership

J. D. Vance said the United States “loves Europe”, but criticised European political leadership, arguing that under its direction the continent has become “less safe, less free and less successful”.

On energy, he said it is not accidental that energy prices are lower in the United States, describing this as the result of political choices, while Europe has chosen a different path.

Education, universities and ‘elite networks’

Turning to education, Vance said the system has two tasks: preparing people to be effective workers and teaching them critical thinking so they can participate in modern democracy.

He argued universities cannot stand above society and should not expect unlimited public funding while promoting ideologies taxpayers do not agree with. “It is taxpayers who decide what they are willing to finance,” he said, adding that no one is automatically entitled to public money.

In closing, Vance spoke about his own university experience, recalling how studying at Yale Law School helped him understand how elite social networks operate. He described these networks as closed and self-reinforcing, and argued that because political and economic leaders often come from such institutions, many decision-makers become detached from the everyday reality of ordinary people.

He said education should become more open and place greater emphasis on merit-based selection, so that what matters is not who someone knows, but what they can do. If that does not happen, he warned, “the system is fundamentally destined to fail,” and he added that young people also have a responsibility to engage in public life and help build a more open and fair system.

As we wrote today, the latest pre-election poll shows Orbán could face his biggest defeat in 16 years.