Hungary’s Orbán urges European conservatives, and Trump, toward election victories at CPAC event

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary’s nationalist prime minister has called for right-wing forces to take power in upcoming European and U.S. elections, and expressed support for former President Donald Trump in his ongoing criminal trial. Viktor Orbán, a right-wing populist and the European Union’s longest-serving leader, told supporters at the CPAC Hungary conference on Thursday that conservatives across the West, including himself and Trump, are under attack by a hegemonic liberal order. EU elections in June and U.S. elections in November, Orbán said, will be a chance to usher in an “era of sovereignty” to bring an end to what he called “the progressive world spirit.” The two-day CPAC event in Hungary, the third in as many years, underscores U.S. conservatives’ growing embrace of the Hungarian leader.