BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in the Hungarian capital on Monday to meet with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his government during which they plan to sign a civil nuclear cooperation agreement announced by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Trump has been outspoken in his support for the nationalist Orbán in the Hungarian leader’s bid for re-election in two months. Orbán and his Fidesz party face their most serious challenge in the April 12 vote since he regained power in 2010.

The stop in Hungary’s capital follows Rubio’s visit to Slovakia on Sunday, having previously attended the Munich Security Conference in Germany.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio (L) and Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico shake hands at the end of a joint news conference in Bratislava, Slovakia, on February 15, 2026.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio (L) and Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico shake hands at the end of a joint news conference in Bratislava, Slovakia, on February 15, 2026.

Alex Brandon/News via Getty Images

Led by Eurosceptic populists who oppose support for Ukraine and openly support Trump, Slovakia and Hungary represent friendly territory for Rubio as he pushes to shore up energy deals with both Central European countries.

Orbán, widely considered Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most trusted defender in the European Union, has maintained warm relations with the Kremlin despite his war against Ukraine, while currying favor with Trump and his MAGA movement (short for Trump’s 2016 campaign slogan “Make America Great Again”).

Many in MAGA and the broader conservative world see Hungary as a shining example of successful conservative nationalism, despite the erosion of its democratic institutions and its status as one of the poorest countries in the EU.

In a post on his Truth Social site earlier this month, Trump endorsed Orbán for the upcoming election, calling him a “truly strong and powerful leader” and “a true friend, fighter and WINNER.”

Trump has praised Orbán’s staunch opposition to immigration, exemplified by a fence his government erected on Hungary’s southern border in 2015 as hundreds of thousands of refugees fled Syria and other countries in the Middle East and Africa.

Other American conservatives admire Orbán’s hostility toward LGBTQ+ rights. Last year, his government banned the popular Budapest Pride celebration and allowed facial recognition technology to be used to identify anyone who participated despite the ban. It has also effectively banned adoption and same-sex marriage, and has not allowed transgender people to change their sex on official documents.

Orbán has remained firmly committed to purchasing Russian energy despite EU efforts to reduce such supplies, and received an exemption from US sanctions on Russian energy after a November White House meeting with Trump.

Seemingly confident that his political and personal affinity with the American leader could pay even greater dividends, Orbán and his government have tried to court Trump to come to Hungary ahead of the crucial April 12 election, hoping that such a high-profile visit and endorsement would push Orbán, who is trailing in most polls, over the finish line.

Budapest has hosted several annual iterations of the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, and another was hastily rescheduled this year for March, just before elections in Hungary.

Details of the civil nuclear deal were not known before Monday’s signing in Budapest.

During his visit to the White House in November, Orbán had agreed on cooperation between the United States and Hungary in the civil nuclear industry, including the purchase of compact nuclear reactors (known as small modular reactors or SMRs) and the storage of spent fuel.

Hungary noted that it was ready to support the construction of up to 10 SMRs with a potential value of up to $20 billion. Orbán also said Hungary would sign a nuclear fuel deal with US-based Westinghouse to supply nuclear fuel to Hungary’s Paks I nuclear plant built in Russia.