New Delhi, Feb. 17 -- U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday enthusiastically endorsed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban 's bid to serve a fifth straight term after the April elections, emphasizing during a visit to Budapest the strong personal relationship between the nationalist leader and U.S. President Donald Trump.

Orban, who has led Hungary since 2010, is one of Trump's most vocal supporters in the European Union, and has actively curried the U.S. president's favor leading up to the April 12 vote in which he will face the toughest challenge of his last 16 years in power.

Rubio was in the Hungarian capital for meetings with Orban and his government where he signed an agreement on U.S.-Hungarian civilian nuclear cooperati...