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- L ike many Ukrainians, Oleh Kupchak was delighted when PĂ©ter Magyar won Hungaryâs election last weekend, ending Viktor OrbĂĄn âs 16-year grip on power.
Ukraine celebrated OrbĂĄnâs landslide defeat in a series of jokes and memes. Several likened him to the Star Wars character Jabba the Hut, and shared an image of OrbĂĄn fleeing from a drone. Others portrayed him sitting on a bench in Russia, alongside Ukraineâs pro-Kremlin former president Viktor Yanukovych, and his exiled Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad.
The widespread joy that greeted the ousting of OrbĂĄn and his Fidesz party was hardly surprising. Hungaryâs outgoing prime minister â the Kremlinâs biggest and most disruptive supporter inside the EU â ran a vociferously anti-Ukrainian election campaign. He accused Kyiv of plotting to sabotage key energy installations, and of threatening him and his family with physical violence.
Recently Kyivâs already brittle relations with Budapest had descended into open hostility. In late January a Russian drone set fire to the Druzhba pipeline, which supplies Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia. OrbĂĄn claimed Volodymyr Zelenskyy was deliberately delaying repairs, causing a fuel shortage in Hungary, in order to damage Fideszâs re-election chances.
In the run-up to the poll, Hungarian voters encountered billboards showing Zelenskyy begging for money from the EU. Other posters featured photos of Ukraineâs president next to Magyar. The opposition leader and his Tisza party were accused of trying to drag Hungary into the fighting in Ukraine, and being a part of a Brussels-backed âpro-war lobbyâ.
Ukrainian politicians and analysts welcomed Magyarâs 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 Ukraineâs parliament, said he felt âcautiously optimisticâ. âA unique window of opportunity is now opening up for Ukrainian-Hungarian relations,â he told the Guardian.
Merezhko interpreted Hungaryâs election results as âon the whole a win for Ukraineâ, since they represented âa strategic defeat for Putinâ. âPutin had hoped to form an anti-Ukrainian coalition in Europe led by OrbĂĄn, which would also include Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Putinâs plan has failed. Without OrbĂĄn in power, such a coalition will not form,â he said.
Peter Magyar, the Tisza partyâs leader, speaks to the media after the preparatory meeting for the inaugural session of the parliament in Hungary. Photograph: Robert Hegedus/AP
Magyar is expected to lift OrbĂĄnâs veto on âŹ90bn in EU aid to Ukraine, 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 OrbĂĄn gone, Brussels will unlock EU funds earmarked for Hungary suspended because of democratic backsliding.
Merezhko described Hungaryâs new leader as more âconstructively mindedâ than his pro-Russian predecessor and ânot anti-Europeanâ. The deputy, however, warned that all bilateral issues could not be resolved âautomatically and quicklyâ. âMagyar now needs to show Europe that his policy will not be a continuation of OrbĂĄnâs. And here, the issue of Ukraine is key,â he said.
One potential dispute is over Ukraineâs 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 Ukraineâs ethnic Hungarian minority. The small community in the western Zakarpattia region has long been a source of tension, exploited â Kyiv says â by a cynical OrbĂĄn.
Last month Budapest impounded two Ukrainian armoured bank vehicles carrying millions of euros as well as bars of gold. OrbĂĄn had unlawfully seized the funds, Merezhko said, in a provocative scandal. âA very significant step, and a clear sign of Magyarâs willingness to engage in dialogue, would be for him to return the Ukrainian funds,â he added.
Last weekend Zelenskyy sent a message of congratulation to Magyar and his Tisza party. âIt is important when a constructive approach prevails,â he noted, adding that Ukraine had always sought good neighbourly relations with âeveryone in Europeâ. Ukraine was ready to develop âcooperation with Hungaryâ and to meet and work with its new government, he said.
In contrast to the Trump administration, Magyar has stated Ukraine is a victim of Russiaâs invasion and should not be forced to hand over its territory. In July 2024 he travelled to Kyiv, shortly after Moscow bombed the Okhmatdyt childrenâs hospital. He paid tribute to Ukrainian soldiers killed in the war and handed over humanitarian aid and a donation.
However, Ukrainian commentators think Magyar should not be seen as a friend or booster. âMagyar is not a pro-Ukrainian politician. He is pro-Hungarian,â Serhiy Sydorenko, the editor of the European Pravda newspaper, wrote this week. 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.
Other observers said Hungarian society had grown used to anti-Ukrainian narratives, after 16 years of OrbĂĄn propaganda, and would take time to change its views. âWe canât expect something very liberal from the reformist government,â said Marianna Prysiazhniuk, a political analyst with the Democratic Initiatives Foundation in Kyiv. She added: âWhat weâve witnessed in Hungary is the reconsolidation of power.â
Prysiazhniuk believes Zelenskyy should behave âvery delicatelyâ towards Budapest, taking into account its âinternal contextâ. âWe shouldnât expect Magyar to shout: âGlory to Ukraineâ. The priority is for Hungary to become a reliable European partner,â she said. The two leaders are likely to hold talks next month in Romania at a meeting of the âBucharest Nineâ, a gathering of Natoâs formerly communist east European member states.
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. âIn my opinion the Hungarians have a bit of an imperial mentality, similar to the Russians. Itâs a hangover from the Austro-Hungarian empire. We hope that under Magyar this changes,â he said.
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