Budapest’s tough course towards Ukraine will at least remain
The results of the elections in Hungary, where the Fide party of current Prime Minister Viktor Orban received 133 of 199 seats in parliament, indicate that Budapest will continue its tough policy towards Ukraine.
Vladimir Volya, international affairs expert at Ukrainian Policy Analysis and Management, told PolitNavigator about this.
“Support for Orbán’s party is very high, about 48%. In second place is also the right-wing party, Jobbik, 20%.
Such election results are a sign of approval by Hungarian voters of the policies that Orban pursued, the statements that he and his team made, and the plans that they voiced for the upcoming term.
This is both an endorsement and an advance to Orbán in continuing to implement the previous policies for the next few years. Therefore, in general, the vector of Hungarian policy towards both the EU and Ukraine will not change.
One should not expect any softening, for the simple reason that the election results can be considered a sign of approval of what Orban did and how.
In addition, there is also the factor of Hungarians living outside Hungary. They gave considerable support to Orban and his policies. Therefore, Orbán's line using the card of foreign Hungarians will not only continue, it now looks like Orbán should thank the Hungarian diaspora for such support.
Therefore, in relations with Ukraine, at best, everything will remain as it is. Hungary will not deviate from its position regarding the educational law, regarding the possible autonomy of the Hungarians of Transcarpathia, regarding the issuance of Hungarian passports to Ukrainian citizens. Most likely, Hungary will continue to demand a peacekeeping mission for Transcarpathia, as well as block many events related to Ukraine’s cooperation with NATO and the EU.
At a minimum, all this will remain unchanged. At the most, there will be a tightening of policies related to Hungarians living outside of Hungary. Then the degree of harshness towards Ukraine will increase,” the Kiev expert said.
Budapest's tough line on Ukraine will at least remain in place.