Hungarian leader Orban stirs up concerns he plans a Trump surprise for EU leaders

Viktor Orban held a phone call with Donald Trump on Thursday, raising concerns among some European Union officials that the Hungarian premier may be planning to invite him to dial into an upcoming E.U. meeting should he win next week’s U.S. election.

Orban, who posted on X that he’d spoken to the Republican presidential candidate to wish him the best of luck ahead of the Nov. 5 vote, could ask him to join E.U. leaders via a video link or share a recorded message when they meet in Budapest next week, according to several E.U. diplomats.

Such a move would likely annoy many other E.U. leaders, the diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Hungarian premier has cultivated a close relationship with Trump, which he would likely seek to capitalize on in the event the former president returns to the White House. U.S. polls suggest the race is a toss-up and it could be days before results are known.

Budapest is hosting an informal E.U. summit on Nov. 8 and a larger meeting of the European Political Community the previous day. The bloc’s leaders are expected to discuss the outcome of the election over dinner on Nov. 7.

Some of the diplomats said rumors of a potential invite had been circulating in Brussels for a while, a reflection of the unease in several capitals toward Hungary for leaving them in the dark before. Orban, who holds the rotating presidency of the E.U., was criticized by other members of the 27-nation bloc for traveling to Georgia shortly after last week’s divisive elections.

Similarly, his visits earlier this year to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump angered other leaders, who sought to underscore that he wasn’t representing the bloc in talks over issues including the war in Ukraine.

Several capitals had previously considered not attending next week’s summit in Budapest because of those trips. A senior E.U. official told Bloomberg earlier this week, however, that boycotting the meeting wouldn’t be a good idea as it would play into Orban’s hands, and that leaders should instead seek to isolate the Hungarian premier in the room.

One senior E.U. diplomat said leaders could choose not to adopt a statement on competitiveness – the summit’s main topic – and leave that formality for when they next meet in Brussels in December. This would avoid it being called the “Budapest declaration.”

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