Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales is scheduled to address an international gathering of right-wing influencers Friday during a repeat visit to one of the most authoritarian nations in Europe.
Morales is listed, under his official state title, as a speaker at the fourth annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Hungary.
According to the CPAC agenda, the Guatemala native and naturalized U.S. citizen will deliver a 10-minute presentation on the subject of "No Border, No Order."
This is at least the second time the Hoosier Republican has attended CPAC Hungary. At the 2023 event, Morales even managed to get a photo of himself standing near Hungary's strongman Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
The theme of this year's CPAC Hungary — The Age of Patriots is Here! — contends the nationalist values shared by Orbán, the event's keynote speaker, and Republican U.S. President Donald Trump are leading to a "transformation of the global order."
"The forces of sovereignty, freedom and peace are slowly but surely building a majority. But the real work begins now: We must Make the West Great Again!" CPAC Hungary proclaims on its event website.
Morales may even be closer to Orbán than Trump. Morales' wife, Hungarian immigrant Sidonia Nicolae, was designated Hungary's honorary consul to Indiana by Orbán's government during an Indiana Statehouse ceremony in March attended by, among others, Republican Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith and Republican Attorney General Todd Rokita.
On Wednesday, Morales posted on X/Twitter a photo of himself and his wife outside the Látóképi Inn, a traditional Hungarian restaurant near Debrecen, Hungary, about 150 miles east of Budapest, the capital.
"Enjoying some personal time in Europe with my amazing wife, Sidonia — exploring and visiting her family. Grateful for these moments of time with loved ones," Morales said.
The secretary of state's office declined to say when Morales left Indiana, when he's returning, who he is traveling with and who is paying for his travel.
"The secretary’s schedule this week shows personal time away from the office," said Lindsey Eaton, Morales' communications director.
Morales' wife, however, posted on Facebook Tuesday a Hungarian government news article showing Morales, wearing a secretary of state lapel pin on his suit, engaged in agricultural trade policy discussions with Hungary's Deputy Secretary of State Oszkár Ökrös — even though Beckwith is Indiana's secretary of agriculture, not Morales.
The secretary of state's Hungary trip comes on the heels of Morales leaving Indiana during the annual legislative session in March for a 10-day "economic development" trip to India, despite his office playing no meaningful role in setting or implementing Indiana's economic development agenda.
In response, the Republican-controlled General Assembly mandated in House Enrolled Act 1001 that all statewide elected officials and members of the governor’s cabinet annually disclose by Oct. 1 the purpose, destination and cost of all official travel within and outside of Indiana during the previous state budget year.