Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is facing strong headwinds in public opinion ahead of the April 12 parliamentary election, but continues to receive vocal support from the United States, according to Swedish media reports. Orbán, leader of the nationalist right-wing Fidesz party who has been in power for 16 years, is reportedly facing one of his biggest political challenges to date. His challenger Péter Magyar, with his socially conservative Tisza party, holds a clear advantage in opinion polls according to the reports.
While Orbán has increasingly looked eastward toward Russia, Magyar reportedly wants to steer Hungary back toward the European Union community. The reports indicate that US President Donald Trump has verbally supported Orbán on multiple recent occasions as the election approaches.