New Delhi, March 24 -- The leaders of over a dozen European far-right parties gathered in Hungary's capital on Monday in a show of support for Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a nationalist figure beloved by U.S. and European conservatives whose performance in a pivotal election in April could set the tone for the movement's future.

Orban, who retook power in Hungary in 2010, has long been seen as a key figure in the global far right, well before U.S. President Donald Trump entered the 2016 presidential race.

The Hungarian leader's political successes - four straight election victories, his broad takeover of Hungarian government institutions, media and academia, and his emphasis on family values - led many in the U.S. and Europe to see him ...