Vice President JD Vance delivered sharp criticism Wednesday against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, calling his recent statements about Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban “scandalous” during a diplomatic visit to Budapest.
The vice president’s condemnation came as he supported Budapest’s claims that Ukraine is attempting to manipulate Hungary’s upcoming election through energy supply disruptions.
Vance made his remarks while visiting Budapest to strengthen ties with the nationalist Orban, who is confronting his most significant political challenge in 16 years of leadership. The April 12 election is being watched closely as a test of Donald Trump’s MAGA movement’s influence across Europe.
The controversy centers on Hungary’s deteriorating relationship with Ukraine, which has become a major issue in the election campaign. Hungarian officials claim Ukraine intentionally halted Russian oil deliveries through the Druzhba pipeline to interfere with their democratic process.
Ukraine maintains the pipeline suffered damage from a Russian drone strike in late January and repair work is proceeding as quickly as possible.
The dispute escalated when Hungary blocked a massive 90-billion-euro ($105 billion) European Union loan package for Ukraine. This prompted Zelenskyy to suggest he could provide the address of the responsible party to Ukrainian military forces, who could “speak with him in their own language.”
During his address at a Hungarian university, Vance revealed that Orban had briefed him on Zelenskyy’s threatening language.
“It’s completely scandalous,” Vance declared. “You should never have a foreign head of government… threatening the head of government of an allied nation.”
The vice president then criticized media outlets for applying inconsistent standards when covering foreign election interference, comparing the current situation to the 2016 U.S. presidential race.
“You saw this back in 2016 where a lot of the American media said that it was a true scandal that the Russian government bought like $500,000 of Facebook advertisements… That’s foreign influence,” he stated.
“But what’s not foreign influence is when the European Union threatens billions of dollars withheld from Hungary because you guys protect your borders… What’s not foreign influence is when the Ukrainians shut down pipelines, causing suffering among the Hungarian people in an effort to influence an election.”
Hungary has been locked in ongoing conflicts with the European Union over multiple issues, including judicial independence and immigration policies.
Vance had previously condemned what he characterized as EU interference in Hungary’s election during a Tuesday press conference. A European Commission spokesperson responded Wednesday that Brussels would use diplomatic channels “to convey our concerns to our U.S. counterparts” regarding those statements.
The Ukrainian presidency had not provided a response to requests for comment by Wednesday.
