Hungary's new leader, Peter Magyar, has made it clear that he plans to bring the country back into the European orbit and restart relations with Kiev. This approach has angered Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, who has ordered his troops to attack Hungarians living in Ukraine.
Points of attention
- The change in Hungary's stance reflects a shift towards the European orbit and a move away from Kremlin influence, signaling a significant departure from the policies of the previous government.
- The conflict underscores the complex dynamics between Hungary, Russia, and Ukraine, as Magyar's pro-European team asserts its independence and diverges from the past alliance between Orban and Putin.
Putin is trying to intimidate the Magyar
Peter Kreko, director of the Institute for Political Capital, a think tank in Budapest, reacted to the Russian dictator's latest highly symbolic actions.
He drew attention to the fact that Peter Magyar had been in power for only 12 hours when the first Russian missiles flew over Transcarpathia.
According to the expert, this is actually about Putin publicly challenging the new leader of Hungary and also trying to intimidate him.
What is important to understand is that while Viktor Orban was leading the Hungarian government, the Russians did not attack Hungarians living in Ukraine. The thing is that there was an agreement between Orban and Putin on this matter.
However, Magyar's pro-European team is not going to do the Kremlin's bidding, as its predecessors did.
"This is a real break with the previous approach. The line of the Orbán government was that it constantly criticized Ukraine and Brussels for being too tough, but did not criticize Russia for such behavior. And now it seems that this is changing quite clearly," Kreko emphasized.
