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BUDAPEST, Hungary — <\/span>U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio<\/a> was in the Hungarian capital on Monday for meetings with Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n<\/a> and his government during which they plan to sign a civilian-nuclear cooperation agreement heralded by U.S. President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n Trump has been outspoken in his support for the nationalist Orb\u00e1n in the Hungarian leader’s bid for reelection<\/a> in two months. Orb\u00e1n and his Fidesz party are facing their most serious challenge in the April 12 vote since the right-wing populist retook power in 2010.<\/p>\n The stop in Hungary’s capital follows Rubio’s visit to Slovakia on Sunday, after he previously attended the Munich Security Conference in Germany<\/a>. <\/p>\n Led by Euroskeptic populists who oppose support for Ukraine and vocally back Trump, Slovakia and Hungary represent friendly territory for Rubio as he pushes to shore up energy agreements with both Central European countries. <\/p>\n Widely considered Russian President Vladimir Putin\u2019s most reliable advocate in the European Union<\/a>, Orb\u00e1n has maintained warm relations with the Kremlin despite its war against Ukraine while currying favor with Trump and his MAGA \u2014 short for the 2016 Trump campaign slogan \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d \u2014 movement.<\/p>\n Many in MAGA and the broader conservative world view Hungary as a shining example of successful conservative nationalism, despite the erosion of its democratic institutions<\/a> and its status as one of the EU’s poorest countries. <\/p>\n In a post on his Truth Social site earlier this month, Trump endorsed Orb\u00e1n for the coming elections and called him a \u201ctruly strong and powerful Leader\u201d and “a true friend, fighter, and WINNER.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump has praised Orb\u00e1n\u2019s firm opposition to immigration, exemplified by a fence his government erected on Hungary\u2019s southern border in 2015 as hundreds of thousands of refugees fled Syria and other countries in the Middle East and Africa. <\/p>\n Other U.S. conservatives admire Orb\u00e1n\u2019s hostility to LGBTQ+ rights. His government last year banned the popular Budapest Pride celebration and allowed facial recognition technology to be used to identify anyone participating despite the ban. It has also effectively banned same-sex adoption and same-sex marriage, and disallowed transgender individuals from changing their sex in official documents.<\/p>\n Orb\u00e1n has remained firmly committed to purchasing Russian energy despite efforts by the EU to wean off such supplies, and received an exemption from U.S. sanctions<\/a> on Russian energy after a November meeting in the White House with Trump.<\/p>\n Apparently trusting that his political and personal affinity with the U.S. leader could pay even greater dividends, Orb\u00e1n and his government have sought to woo Trump to Hungary before the pivotal April 12 elections \u2014 hoping such a high-profile visit and endorsement would push Orb\u00e1n, who is trailing in most polls, over the finish line. <\/p>\n Budapest has hosted several annual iterations of the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, and another was hastily rescheduled this year to fall in March, just before Hungary’s elections. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n