BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary’s fiery right-wing leader says Donald Trump’s victory will help his own battle against immigration and multiculturalism and restore traditional family values.

In Argentina, a president who once hugged by the bear At a political conference in Maryland, Trump attacks his critics as rats and parasites, railing against what he calls a corrupt elite and calling climate change “a socialist lie.”

Trump’s second term could realign American diplomacy away from traditional international alliances and toward populist and authoritarian politicians, according to those leaders and outside observers.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary

Two days before Tuesday’s election, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán made a bold prediction.

“Donald Trump will be president again, and that means that by the end of the year, pro-peace political forces will be the majority in the West,” Orbán told state radio.

The European Union has accused Orbán of burying Hungary’s democracy by dominating the media and building a network of loyal oligarchs. He has worried foreign leaders by reaching out to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

What Orbán calls “illiberal democracy” has stigmatized civil society organizations and cracked down on LGBTQ+ rights. He is in favor of retaining power even if it means contravening the interests of traditional Hungarian allies.

President Vladimir Putin of Russia

Trump has avoided publicly criticizing Putin and has consistently spoken warmly of him.

“There is clearly that kind of authoritarian-minded chemistry” between them, said Nigel Gould-Davies of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.

That chemistry aligns with Trump’s admiration for other authoritarian leaders, some of whom were elected through once-democratic systems, Gould-Davies said, pointing to Hungary under Orbán as an example.

Trump has claimed that he will end Russia’s war in Ukraine “within 24 hours,” a statement welcomed by the Kremlin, which currently has a battlefield advantage as well as approximately 20% of Ukrainian territory.

Moscow can expect Trump to sow dysfunction in NATO, given his demands that other alliance members meet agreed-upon military spending levels and his warnings that Russia could “do whatever it wants” to those who fail.

Gould-Davies noted before the election that the Kremlin would welcome Trump’s victory because of its apparent desire for the war in Ukraine to end on terms favorable to Russia. Putin and other authoritarian leaders will be encouraged by Trump’s re-election, which will mean “much less emphasis in American foreign policy on the importance and value of human rights,” Gould-Davies said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is one of his country’s most beloved and polarizing political leaders. Under Modi, Hindu nationalism (once a fringe ideology in India) has become mainstream, and no one has done more to advance this cause than the 74-year-old leader.

Some critics believe Modi’s policies have divided India, especially along religious lines. He was accused of using hate speech against the country’s minority Muslim community, especially in the final phase of this year’s election campaign, when he intensified rhetoric against them.

To his supporters, Modi is a political outsider who broke the country’s history of dynastic politics. His rise has been fueled in part by promises to reform India’s economy, but also by a Hindu policy that has resonated widely in a country where 80% of the population is Hindu.

To his critics, Modi has tested democracy and threatened India’s secular fabric, while his attacks on the media and freedom of expression have increased in more than a decade of his rule.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Türkiye

Like Trump, Erdogan projects an image of strength that prioritizes national interests and relies on populist messages that present him as a defender of ordinary people against elites.

The Biden administration has kept Erdogan’s government at arm’s length, but Trump and Erdogan have cultivated a cordial relationship. This despite a number of differences between their countries, such as when the Trump administration removed Turkey from the F-35 fighter jet program in 2019 over Ankara’s purchase of a Russian-made missile defense system.

President Javier Milei of Argentina

The president of Argentina has reckless style like Trump, rebukes multilateral institutions like the United Nations and has taken a dismissive approach to diplomacyrejecting meetings with the leaders of traditional allies such as Brazil and Spain.

For many observers, the most worrying parallel implies Milei’s claims that last year’s presidential elections in Argentina were rigged against him. That, together with his efforts to downplay atrocities of Argentina’s bloody military dictatorship from 1976 to 1983 has raised concerns about its impact on democracy.

Milei congratulated Trump on his election victory on Wednesday by posting an image on Instagram of the two men hugging in front of their countries’ flags.

“You know you can count on Argentina to carry out your task,” the caption reads. “Now, let’s make America great again.”

Analysts say his cash-strapped government, which urgently needs support from the United States, the International Monetary Fund’s largest shareholder, has been betting on a Trump victory. Milei’s administration is pinning its hopes on the idea that Trump can put pressure on the IMF to lend more money to Argentina, its biggest debtor.

The fund is weighing whether to lend Argentina more cash, which Milei’s libertarian government needs to fully re-enter the global market and exit currency controls. During Trump’s first term, the IMF granted Argentina (at the time led by conservative President Mauricio Macri) a controversial $57 billion bailout.

Mariano Machado, principal analyst for the Americas at Verisk Maplecroft, a global risk intelligence firm, said that while U.S. institutions and the separation of powers are designed to prevent autocratic governments, “Argentina is now returning to a phase where “the very parameters of their institutions are being pressured.”

Prime Minister Robert Fico of Slovakia

Although he is on the left, Fico has used rhetoric similar to Trump’s.

Fico even compared the assassination attempt on Trump in July to his own injury in a shooting in May.

“It’s a carbon copy scenario,” Fico said. “Donald Trump’s political opponents are trying to put him in jail, and when they fail, they enrage the public so much that some loser picks up a gun.”

Like Trump, Fico shows disdain for the mainstream media and has declared war on illegal immigration. Fico has faced criminal charges for organized crime, which he denounced as being politically motivated. The case was eventually dismissed.

The Slovak leader condemned the West’s attitude towards the war in Ukraine and canceled arms shipments to kyiv.

Fico, like Orbán, is known for his pro-Russian views, opposes EU sanctions on Moscow and has said he would prevent Ukraine from joining NATO.

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Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Türkiye, Isabel DeBre in Buenos Aires, Krutika Pathi in New Delhi and Karel Janicek in Prague contributed.

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