Trump chooses Orbán-fan Ohio senator as running mate

After an assassination attempt in a Pennsylvania rally, former President and Republican nominee Donald Trump nominated J. D. Vance, an Ohio senator, to be his running mate and, if elected, serve as the VP of the USA. Mr Vance was a strong supporter of Orbán’s policies before. For example, he praised the scheme of foundation-run universities in an interview.

The next vice president of Trump is an Orbán fan

Vance is from Ohio, and, according to the BBC, Trump would like to garner all support he can from the Midwest battleground states with his nomination. “With his [blue-collar] background, Vance could be well positioned to connect with and energise the kind of white, working class voters who narrowly delivered those states to Trump in 2016”, the news outlet wrote.

Vance was not a supporter of Trump before but became a reliable ally after the 2016 victory. “They have similar views on trade, immigration and foreign policy. Mr Vance has been particularly critical of continued US support for Ukraine”, BBC wrote about him.

Vance praised Orbán in a May interview with CBS. Talking about the creation of foundation-run universities where Orbán nominated his allies to govern the Hungarian universities, Vance said it was reasonable that the taxpayers would like to influence the operation of universities using their money. “Orbán made some clever decisions we could learn from in the USA”, he added. He highlighted that American universities are run by leftist foundations instead of the taxpayers.

Vance is 39 years old, so his appearance in the White House may bring a new generation of Republicans into the US leadership.

Government official discusses strengthening bilateral cooperation in Washington

Levente Magyar, the foreign ministry’s state secretary, held talks with US government officials and representatives of the private sector in Washington, DC on Monday, with the aim of strengthening bilateral cooperation, MTI wrote.

He told MTI Hungary and the United States was bonded by a several-decades military alliance and friendship.

“Even though there are important issues we often see differently, it is important, even essential, for us to discuss those issues in earnest and in a calm tone as close allies and friends,” Magyar said, adding that his visit had served that purpose.

He highlighted his talks with Jim O’Brien, the State Department’s Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, which focused on the situation in Ukraine and the assessment of Hungary’s peace mission. Magyar noted a difference in the two countries’ approach to “this quite complex and difficult issues”, but they understood each other’s motivation and frameworks of interpretation, and would continue to seek common points of understanding, he added.

Magyar also said he had talks with representatives in the business sector with the aim of strengthening the presence of American companies in Hungary and bringing new investments to various branches of industry.

Magyar noted his talks with Maria Korsnick, the president and chief executive of the Nuclear Energy Institute, where they discussed technologies under development that Hungary as “a friend of nuclear energy” might consider interesting.

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