By Humeyra Pamuk and Anita Komuves
BUDAPEST, April 7 (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President JD Vance lashed out on Tuesday at what he called "disgraceful" interference from the European Union in an election in Hungary, as he lauded Prime Minister Viktor Orban as an ally of Donald Trump in the defence of Western civilisation.
Vance's visit to Budapest, just days before a vote which independent polls show Orban is likely to lose, underscores how crucial President Trump's MAGA movement deems the veteran Hungarian nationalist's re-election to be.
Meanwhile Vance's attacks on Brussels are likely to deepen divisions between Washington and European leaders unnerved by Trump's war on Iran and other policies.
"What has happened in this country, what has happened in the midst of this election campaign, is one of the worst examples of foreign election interference that I've ever seen or ever even read about," Vance told a news conference.
"The bureaucrats in Brussels have tried to destroy the economy of Hungary. They have tried to make Hungary less energy-independent. They have tried to drive up costs for Hungarian consumers, and they've done it all because they hate this guy (Orban)."
Vance, whose own visit to Budapest on the eve of Sunday's election has drawn its own warning about "foreign interference" in Hungary from Orban's challenger, Peter Magyar, said other European countries should follow Orban's energy policies.
However, it was not immediately clear if this referred to the import of Russian oil and gas. Orban has maintained cordial ties with Moscow despite the Ukraine war and says Russian energy is essential for Hungary.
The European Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Vance's remarks.
'MORAL COOPERATION'
Trump has already personally endorsed Orban, 62, as "a truly strong and powerful leader" and Vance lavished praise on the Hungarian prime minister's policies on everything from energy to the war in Ukraine.
"I'm here because of the moral cooperation between our two countries, because what the United States and Hungary together represent under Viktor's leadership and under President Trump's leadership is the defence of Western civilization."
Orban, fighting the toughest re-election bid of his career after 16 years in power, hailed what he called "a golden age" in relations between Hungary and the U.S. under Trump's leadership.
Orban's self-described "illiberal democracy" mirrors key themes of Trump-era America: harsh anti-immigration policies, disdain for liberal norms, hostility toward global institutions, and attacks on the media, universities and nonprofit groups. He was the first European leader to endorse Trump during his 2016 presidential bid.
Orban has long been at loggerheads with the EU over a range of issues, including Ukraine. He has refused to send weapons to Ukraine, has blocked a 90-billion-euro loan package from the EU to Kyiv and says Ukraine can never join the bloc.
He has also accused the EU and Ukraine of seeking to meddle in Sunday's election and says Ukraine wants to disrupt Hungary's energy supply, something Kyiv denies.
In a post on X ahead of Vance's arrival, Magyar - whose centre-right Tisza party is tipped by independent pollsters to defeat Orban's Fidesz in Sunday's vote - issued his own warning against foreign meddling in the election campaign.
"This is our country," he wrote. "Hungarian history is not written in Washington, Moscow, or Brussels - it is written in Hungary's streets and squares."
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk, Anita Komuves, Krisztina Than, Gergely Szakacs, Lili Bayer in Budapest, Alan Charlish in Warsaw; Editing by Don Durfee, Nia Williams, Alison Williams and Gareth Jones)
