‘A defeat for Putin’: Ukrainians hope Magyar’s victory will mark new era with Hungary | Ukraine

L.Like many Ukrainians, Oleh Kupchak was delighted that Péter Magyar won last weekend’s elections in Hungary, ending Viktor Orbán’s 16-year grip on power. Kupchak, who visited Budapest several times, said, “We were very happy. Everyone was following the results closely. The toast was toast.” “We didn’t like Orbán,” he added.

Ukraine celebrated Orbán’s crushing defeat with a series of jokes and memes. Some likened it to this: Star Wars character Jabba the Hutand I shared a post Image of Orbán running away from the drone. Others depicted him sitting on a bench in Russia with Ukraine’s pro-Kremlin former president Viktor Yanukovych and his exiled Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad.

The widespread jubilation that welcomed the ouster of Orbán and his Fidesz party was hardly surprising. The outgoing prime minister of Hungary, the Kremlin’s biggest and most destructive supporter in the EU, ran a vociferously anti-Ukrainian election campaign. He accused Kiev of conspiring to sabotage important energy facilities and threatening him and his family with physical violence.

Recently, Kiev’s already fragile relations with Budapest had turned into open hostility. In late January, a Russian drone set fire to the Druzhba pipeline, which supplies Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia. Orbán claimed that Volodymyr Zelenskyy caused fuel shortages in Hungary by deliberately delaying repairs in an attempt to damage Fidesz’s re-election chances.

Ahead of the election, Hungarian voters were confronted with billboards showing Zelenskyy begging for money from the EU. Other posters showed photos of the Ukrainian president next to Magyar. The opposition leader and the Tisza party have been accused of trying to draw Hungary into the conflict in Ukraine and of being part of the Brussels-backed “pro-war lobby”.

Ukrainian politicians and analysts welcomed Magyar’s victory but downplayed the prospect of a rapid thaw in relations between the two previously tense relations. Oleksandr Merezhko, chairman of the Ukrainian parliament’s foreign affairs committee, said he felt “cautiously optimistic.” “A unique window of opportunity is now opening for Ukrainian-Hungarian relations,” he told the Guardian.

Merezhko interpreted Hungary’s election results as “a win for Ukraine in general” as they represented a “strategic defeat for Putin”. “Putin was hoping to form an anti-Ukrainian coalition in Europe, led by Orbán, that would also include Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Putin’s plan failed. Such a coalition cannot be formed without Orbán in power,” he said.

Magyar is expected to lift Orbán’s veto of €90 billion in EU aid to Ukraine after his government is sworn in early next month. Kiev needs money badly. Hungary is also expected to give up its opposition to new sanctions against Russia. With Orbán gone, Brussels will release EU funds earmarked for Hungary, which have been suspended due to democratic backsliding.

Merezhko described Hungary’s new leader as more “constructively minded” and “not anti-European” than his pro-Russian predecessor. However, the MP warned that not all bilateral issues can be resolved “automatically and quickly”. “Magyar now needs to show Europe that its policy will not be a continuation of Orbán. And here the Ukraine issue is key,” he said.

One of the possible disputes concerns Ukraine’s accession to the EU. Magyar said he would not oppose Kiev joining the bloc, but rejects Ukraine’s fast-track membership process and says the issue should be put to a referendum. Another is the status of the ethnic Hungarian minority in Ukraine. The small community in the western Zakarpattia region has long been a source of tension and what Kiev says is being exploited by a cynical Orbán.

Last month, Budapest seized two Ukrainian armored bank vehicles carrying gold bullion as well as millions of euros. In a provocative scandal, Merezhko said Orbán unlawfully seized the funds. “A very important step and a clear sign of Magyar’s willingness to engage in dialogue would be for him to return Ukrainian funds,” he added.

Last weekend, Zelenskyy sent a congratulatory message to Magyar and the Tisza party. “It is important that a constructive approach prevails,” he said, adding that Ukraine always seeks good neighborly relations “with everyone in Europe.” Ukraine was ready to develop “cooperation with Hungary” and to meet and work with its new government. he said.

Unlike the Trump administration, Magyar He declared that Ukraine was a victim of Russia’s invasion and should not be forced to surrender their lands. He left for Kiev in July 2024, shortly after Moscow bombed the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital. He paid tribute to Ukrainian soldiers killed in the war and donated humanitarian aid and donations.

However, Ukrainian commentators think Magyar should not be seen as a friend or supporter. “Magyar is not a pro-Ukrainian politician, he is pro-Hungarian,” said Serhiy Sydorenko, editor of the European newspaper Pravda. I wrote this week. He suggested that Zelenskyy would grudgingly complete the repair of the Druzhba pipeline, allowing limited Russian oil exports to Hungary to resume, as a sign of political goodwill.

Other observers said that after 16 years of Orbán propaganda, Hungarian society had become accustomed to anti-Ukrainian narratives and it would take time to change their views. “We cannot expect anything too liberal from the reformist government,” said Marianna Prysiazhniuk, a political analyst Democratic Initiatives Foundation in Kiev. He added: “What we are witnessing in Hungary is a reconsolidation of power.”

Prysiazhniuk believes that Zelenskyy should act “very sensitively” towards Budapest, taking into account its “internal context”. “We should not expect Magyars to shout ‘Glory to Ukraine’. The priority is for Hungary to be a reliable European partner,” he said. The two leaders are expected to hold talks next month in Romania at the “Bucharest Nine” meeting of NATO’s former communist eastern European member states.

Meanwhile, Kupchak said he has traveled to Hungary several times from his home in Lviv. It was a one-day journey through the Chop border crossing and through the scenic foothills of the Carpathian mountains. “I think Hungarians have an imperialist mentality similar to the Russians. This is a remnant of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. We hope that this situation will change under Hungarian rule,” he said.