During his high-profile diplomatic visit to Budapest, Hungary, US Vice President JD Vance stopped by the Mathias Corvinus Collegium Campus on Wednesday, 8 April, to deliver some insightful remarks to the youths of Hungary. He did so in the form of a discussion with MCC Director General Zoltán Szalai in front of a packed house.
Vice President Vance described MCC as ‘an important institution’. On the broader topic of higher education institutions as a whole, he lamented the fact that some of them believe they are entitled to unlimited government funds, even if they are actively attacking the very government they are requesting funds from. Universities should be aiming to ‘build up the foundations of Western civilization,’ he added. As for important Western values, he cited free debate, border security, and prosperity.
The Vice President then shared that he was made aware of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine threatening to send soldiers to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary’s private address by PM Orbán himself, during their discussions after their joint press conference yesterday. VP Vance described the statements by President Zelenskyy as ‘scandalous’ and ‘unacceptable’.
On the criticisms that he is engaging in ‘foreign interference’ with his visit to Hungary so close to the date of the parliamentary election, Vance asked back: how come the limited Russian social media activity before the 2016 US presidential election, or his visit before the Hungarian parliamentary election are considered foreign interference, but the EU withholding funds to Hungary due to the domestic policies of PM Orbán or the Ukrainian government refusing to restart the Druzhba pipeline are not? He also pointed out that, unlike the EU, the US under President Trump never threatened Hungary in order to influence the outcome of an election.
He also shared that he believes that Viktor Orbán is doing a good job as Prime Minister, he is an important asset in the Trump administration’s efforts to achieve a peace settlement in the Russo–Ukrainian war; and VP Vance and his team ultimately decided to visit Budapest because they saw ‘so much garbage’ being slung at PM Orbán before the election, and they wanted to counterbalance that.
During his visit, the Vice President told the audience that he was treated to a private viewing of the Holy Crown of Hungary held at the Budapest Parliament Building. He described the crown as ‘a symbol of Hungarian sovereignty’.
On the issue of the Trump administration’s relations with Europe, VP Vance has stated that they view the United States as a ‘daughter nation’ of its European counterparts, sharing the same cultural roots, and they want to see the Old Continent be successful and prosper. However, he also admitted that they are ‘disappointed’ with how some European leaders have been handling the Russo–Ukrainian war. He then opined that the war ‘has stopped making sense’ a while ago; and now the two belligerent sides are sacrificing thousands of lives for ‘a few square kilometres’. He added that the Trump administration has made great advancements in the peace negotiations since taking office in January 2025, although a ceasefire has yet to be achieved.
Sovereignty, Europe, and the Next Generation 🇭🇺🇺🇸
— Mathias Corvinus Collegium (@MCC_Budapest) April 8, 2026
During his conversation with @zoszalai, @VP @JDVance pointed to the Holy Crown of Hungary as a powerful symbol of sovereignty rooted in the Hungarian people. He stressed that the U.S. loves Europe’s people and culture, but… pic.twitter.com/xzp23iDuXt
Vice President Vance levied criticism at European leaders for allowing themselves to be dependent on Russian energy imports while, at the same time, labelling Russia as their highest security threat. Due to these strategic blunders, the general population in the United Kingdom now pays six times more for electricity than people in the United States, according to the speaker.
He also commented on the recent news of a two-week ceasefire between Iran and the United States, which he described as a ‘good development’ but also a ‘fragile truce’. Meanwhile, he shared that President Trump had told him that the Iranians are ‘better negotiators than fighters’.
The topic of discussion then shifted back to higher education. JD Vance touted that, under the second Trump administration, universities are no longer allowed to discriminate against people based on race in their admission process, while under the previous administration, they were encouraged to do so. He believes that higher education institutions serve two main purposes: to prepare students with skills that are useful in the labour market, and to teach students to think critically.
When asked about what the most important thing was that he learnt during his years in college, VP Vance answered that, during his time at Yale Law School, he learnt how the elites think and operate. He described that environment as ‘insular’ and ‘self-reinforcing’, and also pointed out that he had met her wife, Usha Vance, during his college years.
As the closing accord of the discussion, Vice President Vance was asked by Director Szalai to give the youths of MCC in the audience some general life advice. VP Vance responded that they should enjoy their youth while it lasts. In further words of wisdom, he encouraged the young people not to ‘check out’ of politics as soon as the administration does something they don’t like, a practice that is described as ‘blackpilling’ in English slang, he explained. Instead, he encouraged all to ‘resist the temptation to think victory is immediate’. ‘Civilization wasn’t built overnight, it won’t be saved overnight,’ he cautioned.
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