World leaders are adding insult to injury after Vice President JD Vance’s attempt to meddle in European politics ended in embarrassment.
Voters delivered a stunning defeat to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Sunday, just a few days after Vance, 41, traveled to the country last week to campaign for Orbán, 62, an ally of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
The defeat of MAGA’s European darling comes amid rising tension between other EU leaders and President Donald Trump over his war with Iran, NATO, and his chumminess with Putin.
During a MAGA-esque rally to hype up Orbán in Budapest last week, Vance railed against “European political leaders” whom he cast as hostile to both Hungary and the United States.
On Sunday, those same European leaders were quick to celebrate Orbán’s loss with enthusiastic congratulations for his successful challenger, the pro-EU Peter Magyar.
“France salutes a victory of democratic participation, of the Hungarian people’s attachment to the values of the European Union, and for Hungary in Europe,” French President Emmanuel Macron, who has been feuding with Trump, wrote on X.
He added, “Together, let us advance a more sovereign Europe, for the security of our continent, our competitiveness, and our democracy.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whom Vance had relentlessly scolded during the disastrous Oval Office meeting last year, congratulated Magyar and declared, “It is important when constructive approach prevails.”
“Ukraine has always sought good-neighbourly relations with everyone in Europe and we are ready to advance our cooperation with Hungary,” the wartime leader wrote on X.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called Orbán’s defeat, which ends a 16-year tenure during which the authoritarian leader eroded Hungarian democratic institutions, a “historic moment” for “European democracy.”
“I look forward to working with you for the security and prosperity of both our countries,” wrote Starmer, who has increasingly clashed with Trump over his refusal to join in on the war on Iran.
Another European leader in Trump’s crosshairs, German Chancellor Friedrich Mertz, sent Magyar his congratulations, writing, “I am looking forward to working with you. Let’s join forces for a strong, secure and, above all, united Europe.”
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, indulged in a poetic reflection, posting on X, “Hungary has chosen Europe. Europe has always chosen Hungary. A country reclaims its European path. The Union grows stronger.”
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney posted, “The Hungarian people have chosen a new path. We are ready to work with you, and our European allies, to deepen our cooperation in trade, defence, and security.”
Hungarians went to the polls in record numbers on Sunday, pushing turnout to 78 percent, the highest in any election in Hungary’s post-Communist history.
Orbán’s Fidesz party is on track to receive just 55 seats with 96 percent of the votes counted, while Magyar’s Tisza party is set to win 138 seats in the 199-seat parliament, The Guardian reports.
If the Tisza party secures the supermajority it is currently projected to win, it would allow Magyar to dismantle key features of Orbán’s “illiberal democracy,” Politico reports. Orbán’s defeat also removes the EU’s chief internal disruptor from its 27-member bloc.
Orbán, whom Vance had called “one of the only true statesmen in Europe” at last week’s rally, was voted out of office amid anger over corruption, Hungary’s languishing economy, and his close ties to Moscow.
On the morning of Vance’s trip last week, Bloomberg reported that Orbán had called Putin in October 2025 to offer help to Moscow “in any way” to win the war in Ukraine.
In a speech, Orbán said the election result is “painful for us, but clear,” according to The Guardian. “The responsibility for and the opportunity to govern were not given to us.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to Vance’s office for comment.
