{"id":537582,"date":"2026-04-18T10:13:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T10:13:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/537582\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T10:13:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T10:13:14","slug":"a-defeat-for-putin-ukrainians-hope-magyars-victory-will-mark-new-era-with-hungary-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/537582\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018A defeat for Putin\u2019: Ukrainians hope Magyar\u2019s victory will mark new era with Hungary | Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Like many Ukrainians, Oleh Kupchak was delighted when P\u00e9ter Magyar won Hungary\u2019s election last weekend, ending Viktor Orb\u00e1n\u2019s 16-year grip on power<\/a>. \u201cWe were euphoric. Everyone was following the results closely. There were toasts,\u201d said Kupchak, who has visited Budapest several times. \u201cWe didn\u2019t love Orb\u00e1n,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Ukraine celebrated Orb\u00e1n\u2019s landslide defeat in a series of jokes and memes. Several likened him to the Star Wars character Jabba the Hut<\/a>, and shared an image of Orb\u00e1n fleeing from a drone<\/a>. Others portrayed him sitting on a bench in Russia, alongside Ukraine\u2019s pro-Kremlin former president Viktor Yanukovych, and his exiled Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad.<\/p>\n

The widespread joy that greeted the ousting of Orb\u00e1n and his Fidesz party was hardly surprising. Hungary\u2019s outgoing prime minister \u2013 the Kremlin\u2019s biggest and most disruptive supporter inside the EU \u2013 ran a vociferously anti-Ukrainian election campaign. He accused Kyiv of plotting to sabotage key energy installations<\/a>, and of threatening him and his family with physical violence.<\/p>\n

Recently Kyiv\u2019s already brittle relations with Budapest had descended into open hostility<\/a>. In late January a Russian drone set fire to the Druzhba pipeline, which supplies Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia. Orb\u00e1n claimed Volodymyr Zelenskyy was deliberately delaying repairs, causing a fuel shortage in Hungary, in order to damage Fidesz\u2019s re-election chances.<\/p>\n

In the run-up to the poll, Hungarian voters encountered billboards showing Zelenskyy begging for money from the EU. Other posters featured photos of Ukraine\u2019s president next to Magyar. The opposition leader and his Tisza party were accused of trying to drag Hungary<\/a> into the fighting in Ukraine, and being a part of a Brussels-backed \u201cpro-war lobby\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ukrainian politicians and analysts welcomed Magyar\u2019s victory, but downplayed expectations of a quick thaw in relations between the two previously embittered countries. Oleksandr Merezhko, the head of the foreign affairs committee in Ukraine\u2019s parliament, said he felt \u201ccautiously optimistic\u201d. \u201cA unique window of opportunity is now opening up for Ukrainian-Hungarian relations,\u201d he told the Guardian.<\/p>\n

Merezhko interpreted Hungary\u2019s election results as \u201con the whole a win for Ukraine\u201d, since they represented \u201ca strategic defeat for Putin\u201d. \u201cPutin had hoped to form an anti-Ukrainian coalition in Europe<\/a> led by Orb\u00e1n, which would also include Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Putin\u2019s plan has failed. Without Orb\u00e1n in power, such a coalition will not form,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Peter Magyar, the Tisza party\u2019s leader, speaks to the media after the preparatory meeting for the inaugural session of the parliament in Hungary. Photograph: Robert Hegedus\/AP<\/p>\n

Magyar is expected to lift Orb\u00e1n\u2019s veto on \u20ac90bn in EU aid to Ukraine<\/a>, once his government is sworn in early next month. Kyiv badly needs the money. Hungary is also expected to drop its opposition to new sanctions against Russia. With Orb\u00e1n gone, Brussels will unlock EU funds earmarked for Hungary suspended because of democratic backsliding.<\/p>\n

Merezhko described Hungary\u2019s new leader as more \u201cconstructively minded\u201d than his pro-Russian predecessor and \u201cnot anti-European\u201d. The deputy, however, warned that all bilateral issues could not be resolved \u201cautomatically and quickly\u201d. \u201cMagyar now needs to show Europe that his policy will not be a continuation of Orb\u00e1n\u2019s. And here, the issue of Ukraine is key,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

One potential dispute is over Ukraine\u2019s EU accession. Magyar has said he would not oppose Kyiv joining the bloc, but rejects fast-track membership for Ukraine, and says the issue should be put to a referendum. Another is the status of Ukraine\u2019s ethnic Hungarian minority. The small community in the western Zakarpattia region has long been a source of tension, exploited \u2013 Kyiv says \u2013 by a cynical Orb\u00e1n.<\/p>\n

Last month Budapest impounded two Ukrainian armoured bank vehicles carrying millions of euros<\/a> as well as bars of gold. Orb\u00e1n had unlawfully seized the funds, Merezhko said, in a provocative scandal. \u201cA very significant step, and a clear sign of Magyar\u2019s willingness to engage in dialogue, would be for him to return the Ukrainian funds,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Last weekend Zelenskyy sent a message of congratulation to Magyar and his Tisza party. \u201cIt is important when a constructive approach prevails,\u201d he noted, adding that Ukraine had always sought good neighbourly relations with \u201ceveryone in Europe\u201d. Ukraine was ready to develop \u201ccooperation with Hungary\u201d and to meet and work with its new government, he said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In contrast to the Trump administration, Magyar has stated Ukraine is a victim of Russia\u2019s invasion<\/a> and should not be forced to hand over its territory. In July 2024 he travelled to Kyiv, shortly after Moscow bombed the Okhmatdyt children\u2019s hospital<\/a>. He paid tribute to Ukrainian soldiers killed in the war and handed over humanitarian aid and a donation.<\/p>\n

However, Ukrainian commentators think Magyar should not be seen as a friend or booster. \u201cMagyar is not a pro-Ukrainian politician. He is pro-Hungarian,\u201d Serhiy Sydorenko, the editor of the European Pravda newspaper, wrote this week<\/a>. He suggested Zelenskyy would reluctantly complete repairs to the Druzhba pipeline, allowing limited Russian oil exports to resume to Hungary, as a gesture of political goodwill.<\/p>\n

Other observers said Hungarian society had grown used to anti-Ukrainian narratives, after 16 years of Orb\u00e1n propaganda, and would take time to change its views. \u201cWe can\u2019t expect something very liberal from the reformist government,\u201d said Marianna Prysiazhniuk, a political analyst with the Democratic Initiatives Foundation<\/a> in Kyiv. She added: \u201cWhat we\u2019ve witnessed in Hungary is the reconsolidation of power.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prysiazhniuk believes Zelenskyy should behave \u201cvery delicately\u201d towards Budapest, taking into account its \u201cinternal context\u201d. \u201cWe shouldn\u2019t expect Magyar to shout: \u2018Glory to Ukraine\u2019. The priority is for Hungary to become a reliable European partner,\u201d she said. The two leaders are likely to hold talks next month in Romania at a meeting of the \u201cBucharest Nine\u201d, a gathering of Nato\u2019s formerly communist east European member states.<\/p>\n

Kupchak, meanwhile, said he had driven several times to Hungary from his home in Lviv. It was a day-long journey via the Chop border crossing, through the scenic foothills of the Carpathian mountains. \u201cIn my opinion the Hungarians have a bit of an imperial mentality, similar to the Russians. It\u2019s a hangover from the Austro-Hungarian empire. We hope that under Magyar this changes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n