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Right-Wing Leaders Across Europe Back Hungary’s Orbán Ahead of Election

Orbán rallies Europe’s right-wing allies ahead of a tight election, as opposition surges and tensions with Brussels deepen over Ukraine, rule of law, and Russia ties.

Kyiv Post

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24. März 2026

4 min read

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Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán has received the backing of prominent right-wing political leaders across Europe as his country counts down to a crucial parliamentary election that could see him ousted from power.

The Patriots for Europe political group, which represents right-wing parties from several European Union member states in the EU parliament, held an event in Budapest on Monday to rally support for Orbán ahead of the April 12 vote. 

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The event, dubbed “Patriots’ Grand Assembly”, saw Orbán receive messages of support from figures including Polish hard-right MP Krzysztof Bosak, France’s far-right Marine Le Pen, Italy’s Matteo Salvini and populist Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš. 

Le Pen, one of Europe’s most prominent right-wing figures and the parliamentary leader of France’s National Rally (RN) party, said that under Orbán “Hungary has become a symbol in Europe of a proud and sovereign people’s resistance against oppression.”  

Orbán’s euroskeptic government has long clashed with Brussels on issues such as the rule of law and aid for Kyiv, with Hungary maintaining friendly relations with Russia despite its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. 

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Budapest has regularly opposed international efforts to increase arms deliveries to Ukraine and has even disputed Ukraine’s sovereignty.  

Hungary, along with Slovakia, also continues to import Russian oil, unlike Poland and the rest of the EU, which largely weaned themselves off Russian energy as a direct response to the war in Ukraine. 

Monday’s Patriots for Europe assembly in Budapest came on the same day that Polish President Karol Nawrocki, himself a euroskeptic conservative, met with Orbán amid the backdrop of the annual Polish-Hungarian Friendship Day, which celebrates historic and cultural ties between the two countries. 

Nawrocki said in a social media post on Monday that Poland and Hungary are “bound by centuries of shared history and national heroes.” 

He added: “We Poles love Hungarians, and we hate the war criminal Putin. Russia will always be a threat to us, Hungary an eternal friend.” 

News of the meeting between Nawrocki and Orbán drew sharp criticism from figures in Poland’s EU-friendly government, with Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a centrist, calling it a “fatal mistake.” 

“President Nawrocki’s participation in the Budapest meeting of pro-Russian and Euroskeptic politicians is a fatal mistake and confirmation of a dangerous strategy to weaken the European Union and strengthen Putin,” Tusk said on social media on Saturday. 

Challenge to Orbán’s rule 

Hungary’s main opposition party, the center-right Tisza, poses the most serious political challenge to Orbán’s nearly 16-year rule in next month’s elections, with polls showing the prime minister’s ruling Fidesz party trailing Tisza. 

Among Tisza leader Péter Magyar’s key campaign promises is a pledge to unlock billions in suspended EU funds that Hungary has not received for years due to clashes between Brussels and Budapest over alleged endemic corruption and democratic backsliding. 

Orbán’s government has long been accused by the opposition and press freedom groups of using state-influenced media as a propaganda machine to disseminate his party’s political narrative, claims Fidesz rejects.