{"id":1473,"date":"2026-04-14T02:16:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T02:16:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/1473\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T02:16:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T02:16:28","slug":"hungarian-election-victor-magyar-says-hed-speak-with-putin-and-ask-him-to-end-the-war-in-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/1473\/","title":{"rendered":"Hungarian election victor Magyar says he\u2019d speak with Putin and ask him to end the war in Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"

BUDAPEST \u2013 Hungarian election winner P\u00e9ter Magyar<\/a> said on Monday that if Russian President Vladimir Putin were to initiate a call with him, he would speak with him and tell him to end the war in Ukraine. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf Vladimir Putin calls, I\u2019ll pick up the phone,\u201d he said at his first news conference after his landslide win against Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n, a Putin ally. \u201cIf we did talk, I could tell him that it would be nice to end the killing after four years and end the war.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would probably be a short phone conversation and I don\u2019t think he would end the war on my advice,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Magyar’s statement was likely greeted with pleasure by many across the European Union who had grown accustomed to Orb\u00e1n’s conciliatory tone when discussing the war or Putin.<\/p>\n

From the jubilant crowds along the Danube in Budapest to executive offices in Brussels, praise and even glee abounded for Hungary\u2019s next leader after he won Sunday’s election in a landslide. But the outpouring after his victory<\/a> focused mainly on the prospect of no longer having to deal with Orb\u00e1n, who many saw as a threat to Europe\u2019s peace and prosperity.<\/p>\n

From Madrid to Helsinki, many hope that Magyar’s win will help unshackle the 27-nation European Union as it faces hybrid warfare attacks from Moscow, an antagonistic Washington and Beijing’s economic pressure. EU leaders had been increasingly frustrated with Orb\u00e1n over his takeover of democratic institutions and vetoing of strategic action like a 90-billion-euro ($105 billion) loan for Ukraine.<\/p>\n

It remains to be seen whether those hopes will be fulfilled. Magyar avoided talking about Ukraine or divisive issues like LGTBQ rights on the campaign trail, and was previously a longtime conservative insider in Orb\u00e1n’s party. He told The Associated Press that he would work more closely with the EU<\/a> and the 32-nation NATO military alliance that was forged to thwart aggression from Moscow.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll Hungarians know that this is a shared victory. Our homeland made up its mind. It wants to live again. It wants to be a European country,\u201d Magyar said during his victory speech on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Olga Oliker, the director of European Security at the International Crisis Group, said that “where Orb\u00e1n slowed actions and blocked consensus, Magyar, as he defines Hungary\u2019s relationships with its European allies, to say nothing of those with Ukraine, Russia and the United States, can help shape the future of Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unlocking EU funds for Ukraine<\/p>\n

After Magyar takes his oath of office in May, the new prime minister could potentially lift Hungary’s veto and enable the European Commission to provide Ukraine with the 90-billion-euro ($105 billion) loan that Orb\u00e1n had agreed to in December and then backtracked on, enraging his fellow leaders. <\/p>\n

EU diplomats will discuss Wednesday how best to fast-track the funds to Kyiv, a Cypriot official said on condition of anonymity because the person wasn’t authorized to be named. Cyprus currently holds the rotating EU presidency.<\/p>\n

Hungary borders Ukraine, and the pro-Russia Orb\u00e1n had long demonized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. While congratulating Magyar on X, Zelenskyy said that \u201cwe are ready for meetings and joint constructive work for the benefit of both nations, as well as for the sake of Europe\u2019s peace, security, and stability.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Russia respects the outcome of the Hungarian vote and expects to maintain contacts with the country\u2019s new leadership.<\/p>\n

He said that \u201cas for what action Hungary\u2019s new leadership will take, we probably need to be patient and see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

European institutions hope Orb\u00e1n problem is over<\/p>\n

The prospect of a nimbler, faster-acting Europe drove widespread praise for Magyar from several European leaders. EU negotiators had to increasingly find workarounds when Orb\u00e1n blocked policy decisions. He also held up Sweden’s accession to NATO.<\/p>\n

Magyar said that he received calls on Sunday night \u2014 before he even took the stage to announce his victory \u2014 from French President Emmanuel Macron, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who was frequently vilified by Orb\u00e1n during his campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, Europe is Hungarian,” von der Leyen said at a news conference in Brussels on Monday. “The people of Hungary have spoken and they have reclaimed their European path.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cToday Europe wins and European values win,\u201d said Spain\u2019s left-wing Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez in a post on X on Sunday night. Poland\u2019s center-right Prime Minister Donald Tusk exclaimed on social media: \u201cBack together! Glorious victory, dear friends!\u201d <\/p>\n

Setback for Europe’s populist right<\/p>\n

Orb\u00e1n’s defeat has reverberated across the world<\/a>, including across the Atlantic where U.S. President Donald Trump supported Orb\u00e1n\u2019s reelection bid<\/a> and even dispatched U.S. Vice President JD Vance<\/a> to Budapest last week to stump for the incumbent.<\/p>\n

Magyar’s victory might signal a shift in European politics that has been dominated by a far-right shift over the past decade. Magyar comes from a right-wing background but distanced himself from Orb\u00e1n\u2019s leadership. <\/p>\n

With nationalist parties making headways in Germany and France, the electoral earthquake in Hungary shows that \u201cHungarians are sending a signal to the world,\u201d German lawmaker Daniel Freund said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe icon of illiberal anti-European forces has now failed \u2014 brought down by a disastrous economy, corruption and his own unfair electoral system,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Orb\u00e1n’s populist allies in the EU, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babi\u0161 and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, congratulated Magyar, while praising the ousted strongman. But Fico also brought up the Druzhba pipeline<\/a>, shuttered since an attack in Ukraine \u2014 an issue Orb\u00e1n campaigned on and one exacerbated by rising energy prices over the Iran war.<\/p>\n

Magyar has criticized Orb\u00e1n\u2019s government for failing to diversify its energy mix, and advocated for reaching new agreements and constructing new infrastructure to bring oil and gas from other sources into landlocked Hungary.<\/p>\n

Both Babi\u0161 and Fico pledged to work with Hungary’s next leader.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press writers Jill Lawless in London, Karel Janicek in Prague, Dusan Stojanovic in Belgrade, Serbia, and Derek Gatopoulos in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BUDAPEST \u2013 Hungarian election winner P\u00e9ter Magyar said on Monday that if Russian President Vladimir Putin were to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1474,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[946,947,64,362,712,943,952,942,948,937,940,608,941,949,951,939,950,938,944,371,331,945],"class_list":{"0":"post-1473","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-donald-tusk","8":"tag-antonio-costa","9":"tag-daniel-freund","10":"tag-donald-tusk","11":"tag-elections","12":"tag-emmanuel-macron","13":"tag-friedrich-merz","14":"tag-giorgia-meloni","15":"tag-jordan-bardella","16":"tag-keir-starmer","17":"tag-manfried-weber","18":"tag-mark-rutte","19":"tag-mette-frederiksen","20":"tag-micheal-martin","21":"tag-nicusor-dan","22":"tag-pedro-sanchez","23":"tag-robert-golob","24":"tag-roberta-metsola","25":"tag-ulf-kristersson","26":"tag-ursula-von-der-leyen","27":"tag-viktor-orban","28":"tag-world-news","29":"tag-yair-lapid"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1473"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1473\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}