"One Of Putin's Main Trump Cards Has Been Knocked Out."

• 13.04.2026, 13:37

The Hungarian opposition sent pro-Kremlin forces into a knockdown.

In the parliamentary elections in Hungary, the Tisza party of Peter Magyar wins, which has already been congratulated by European colleagues. It should get 138 seats in parliament, the party "Fidesz" Viktor Orban - 55 seats.

What does this mean for Ukraine? How will Hungary's politics change? How does the victory of the opposition in Hungary affect Russia?

For a comment, Charter97.org turned to Vladimir Fesenko, a well-known Ukrainian political scientist and head of the Center for Applied Political Research "Penta":

- Undoubtedly, this is a victory for Peter Magyar and his party. He personally played a big role, but the main thing that happened is the defeat of Orbán himself. Hungarian voters chose Europe over Orban with his aggressive anti-European policy, and over Donald Trump, who together with JD Vance actively campaigned not only for Orban, but actually against Europe.

This anti-Europeanism, I think, also played a significant role in the fact that Hungarian voters still chose Europe over Orban and Trump. And it's Putin's defeat, which is also very important. Putin actively supported Orban, not publicly, but through his political technologists, special services, economically, among other things. It is the defeat of Orban, Putin and Trump that I consider the most important result of this election. It indirectly indicates what changes may take place in Hungarian politics.

- What can we expect?

- First, and most importantly, unlike Orbán, Peter Magyar and his government will begin to clear up the rubble, problems, contradictions that have arisen over the years in relations between the EU and Hungary. It is already noticeable that both sides are set for constructive interactions. Yesterday it was indicative that even before waiting for the official results of the elections, the EU leaders, European leaders, leaders of the leading European countries began to congratulate Magyar on his victory. The comment of Ursula von der Leyen that this is a common victory for Europe and the choice of Hungarian voters in favor of the EU

Magyar in his speeches, including at the final stage of the election campaign, emphasized that he is in favor of Hungary's active role in the European Union, in NATO, for Hungary's membership in these unions. His pro-European stance says that he is committed to constructive engagement with the European Union, and this suggests that it will be possible to unblock quite quickly what Orban has blocked. This is the decision on the 90 billion euro financial support for Ukraine and the 20th package of sanctions against Russia.

Yes, there is also Fitzo, the Slovak Prime Minister, who together with Orban blocked such decisions, but without Orban, Fitzo, who has always played second number, will not be so aggressive. I think he will be more likely to negotiate. Besides, Ukraine will make a number of steps to normalize relations with Hungary and to demonstrate its readiness for compromise. I mean unblocking of the Druzhba oil pipeline.

This will also help those decisions I mentioned: unblocking of financial aid for Ukraine and approval of the 20th package of sanctions against Russia. We should also take into account that since under Orban a lot of decisions were made that contradicted European standards and values, it led to conflicts and freezing of European subventions for Hungary. Now I believe that this problem will be solved. This will be facilitated by the fact that the winners of the elections get a constitutional majority. The new Hungarian government may reconsider many of Orban's anti-European decisions. This will also contribute to constructive relations between the EU and Hungary.

And finally, relations with Ukraine. There is a debate going on here. Some commentators, and there are quite a few of them, say that Magyar is not much different from Orban: he is the same populist, from Fidesz, the same Hungarian nationalist. That's partly true. He does come out of Orbán's party, he does show populist sentiments, but he is, if he is a nationalist, a moderate one. Even Wikipedia calls him a conservative liberal. So he is not so aggressive after all, that's the most important thing. Magyar has no aggressiveness towards the European Union and Ukraine. Yes, he will not be a pro-Ukrainian prime minister, he will be pro-Hungarian.

I think that both the European Union and Ukraine will still have opportunities to negotiate with the new Hungarian government. But I will also note that in fact the majority of Hungarian voters supported not just Magyar, but voted against Orban. And in the electoral base, and in the Tisza party itself, people with different views. There are liberals there, there are people with left-wing political views. So this is, I would say, a broad anti-Orban coalition.

That is why Magyar is likely to pursue a more flexible, constructive policy in relations with the EU and Ukraine. I should also note that Magyar has been to Ukraine, he visited in 2024 when he started his active opposition to Orban. He visited Bucha, they say that he was impressed by the story of what happened there.

He paid tribute to the Ukrainian soldiers who died in the war. So he's not pro-Ukrainian, but he's not anti-Ukrainian either. And this gives an opportunity for the relationship between Hungary and Ukraine to gradually mend. Therefore, the results of the elections in Hungary are perceived positively in Ukraine. Including, by the way, because Putin lost. And the fact that the slogan "Russians, go home" was constantly heard at the opposition rallies in the last days before the elections.

This is the slogan of the uprising of '56. This mood arose because people felt that Putin was supporting Orban, and Orban was getting too close to Putin. This too, as it turned out, was disliked by a great many Hungarian voters. It also suggests that the new Hungarian government will not be such an ally of Putin. Yes, it may not be in conflict with the Kremlin, but Orbán's previous pro-Russian actions will probably not be present in Magyar politics.

- What does Orbán's defeat mean for Russia?

- One of Putin's main trump cards has been knocked out. Without Orban, Fitzo will not be able to act so actively against the European Union.

Orban was the consolidator of anti-European forces in the European Parliament, in the European Union. And now the position of this right-populist camp has been weakened. I repeat, Putin supported Orban, maybe not as publicly as Trump, but there was support through Russian political technologists. There were a number of publications about it. In Russia, by the way, they wrote a lot about it. Russian special services supported Orban.

These provocations with the Ukrainian cash collectors, the provocation with the alleged attempt to undermine the gas pipeline that leads from Serbia to Ukraine, this clearly took place with the help and participation of Russian special services. So there's no doubt that Putin lost this election. Another thing is that, of course, he will not stop his anti-European policy.

Now he does not have such a strong trump card in his hands as Orban, but he will still try to act, betting on the same right-populists, as well as on the radical left. Putin will play through polarization in Europe by supporting right-wing anti-European populists at the same time. Of course, Putin will continue his fight against a united Europe. Here, by the way, his positions coincided with Trump's. The fact that these two anti-European impulses lost in Hungary at the same time is, in my opinion, very important. At least for a while, but the anti-European camp in Europe will be knocked out, I would say. It is not a knockout, not a total defeat, temporary, maybe. But nevertheless, it is a very important result, which will stop the anti-European forces at least for a while and weaken their influence.