Ukraine welcomed with relief on Monday the defeat of its harshest EU foe, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, an outcome which paves the way for a €90 billion ($105 billion) loan that Kyiv urgently needs to fund the war with Russia.
But the winner of Hungary’s election, Peter Magyar, is no outspoken ally of Ukraine and some other leaders in the European Union remain sceptical about stronger backing for Kyiv, particularly its efforts to join the EU, analysts said. Magyar’s center-right Tisza party won a landslide victory on Sunday, ending Orban’s 16-year rule and winning the two-thirds majority it needs to enact constitutional reforms.
Orban — a nationalist who maintained warm ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin — systematically opposed Brussels’ efforts to support Ukraine, most recently obstructing the two-year EU loan over accusations that Kyiv had deliberately halted Russian oil flows across its territory via the Druzhba pipeline. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Druzhba was damaged by a Russian strike in January and that repairs should be completed in the spring — though he has urged Europe to stop buying Russian oil.
