Vance Heads to Hungary – Orbán Hopes America Will Finally Understand Friendship

American Vice President J.D. Vance is preparing to head to Budapest to support his friend Viktor Orbán before the April elections. Hungary's Foreign Minister Szijjártó announced this news with such pride, as if he had won the lottery.

Orbán, who has held power in Hungary longer than the Liepāja wind blows from the sea, now faces serious competition. Opposition leader Péter Magyar has promised to restore democracy and improve relations with the West. As local political expert Maija from Grobiņa comments: "Well, we also have a bridge over the Karosta canal that divides the city and creates drama, but we don't send Americans there!"

Trump and Orbán have become such good friends that even at the Liepāja market, such friendship would be talked about all winter long. Orbán had hoped that Trump himself would come for a visit, but so far he's only gotten Vance. It's like ordering the mayor of Liepāja but only receiving his deputy.

Hungarians aren't particularly thrilled about the economic stagnation and scandals in Orbán's government. But Americans, it seems, see it differently – they like it when someone in Europe thinks similarly. As Jānis from Karosta says: "At least they know where Hungary is, but do they know where Liepāja is?"