{"id":31183,"date":"2026-08-21T11:19:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T11:19:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/31183\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T11:19:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T11:19:11","slug":"ukraine-in-israel-out-as-leaders-greet-hungary-on-first-national-day-after-orban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/31183\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine In, Israel Out as Leaders Greet Hungary on First National Day after Orb\u00e1n"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hungary received greetings from many of its allies on St Stephen\u2019s Day<\/a>, 20 August, the day on which the Christian Hungarian state was founded 1,026 years ago, offering observers a picture of how the new government led by the Tisza Party and Prime Minister P\u00e9ter Magyar manages its foreign relations. <\/p>\n

Compared with 2025<\/a>, the last St Stephen\u2019s Day under former prime minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n, there was substantial continuity in these messages, as well as notable absences and both surprising and expected newcomers added to the list.<\/p>\n

Most importantly, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio again marked 20 August with a formal National Day statement, making Washington one of the clearest examples of continuity across the change of government. In his remarks, Rubio stressed sovereignty, heritage, economic partnership, shared security interests and an alliance built on Western values, echoing many of the themes of Washington\u2019s message from last year, although in a less ideologically rooted framing.<\/p>\n

Similarly to 2025, European Council President Ant\u00f3nio Costa also greeted Hungary<\/a>, writing on X: \u2018My best wishes on Hungary\u2019s National Day. Boldog Nemzeti \u00dcnnepet, Magyarorsz\u00e1g!\u2019 repeating his message both in English and Hungarian. Besides Costa, several EU institutions also congratulated Hungary; however, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen remained silent, as she did last year.<\/p>\n

A broader group of states joined the United States and the EU in sticking to their established protocol: King Charles III, Kazakhstan and several Gulf monarchies\u2014including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain\u2014again sent formal congratulations. In many cases, the only difference between these messages was the names of the Hungarian leaders mentioned. From Central Asia, however, Kazakhstan remained the only country to congratulate Hungary, while Turkmenistan, in contrast to 2025, disappeared.<\/p>\n

The most politically significant new message, however, came from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He thanked Hungary for supporting Ukraine\u2019s sovereignty and territorial integrity and for humanitarian assistance, called for \u2018open and constructive\u2019 engagement, and, most importantly, invited Magyar to Kyiv<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That made the message more than ceremonial. After years of tense Budapest\u2013Kyiv relations under Viktor Orb\u00e1n, Zelenskyy used Hungary\u2019s national holiday to signal an opening for a reset with the new government. His message fits well with the already launched realignment between the two neighbouring countries, which yielded a political agreement<\/a> in June concerning the rights of the Hungarian ethnic minority living in Ukraine and Kyiv\u2019s EU bid. Besides the presidential greeting, Ukraine also sent congratulations at foreign-ministerial level.<\/p>\n

Magyar has not yet publicly responded to Zelenskyy\u2019s latest invitation. However, the two leaders had already agreed in July to hold a bilateral meeting either in Kyiv or Budapest, followed by a joint visit to Transcarpathia.<\/p>\n

A more surprising group of newcomers came from South Asia. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari combined congratulations with a broad bilateral agenda<\/a> covering political and parliamentary exchanges, trade, investment, education, culture, climate cooperation and, notably, \u2018migration and mobility\u2019. The wording explicitly placed mobility and education among areas for future cooperation.<\/p>\n

\u2018A more surprising group of newcomers came from South Asia\u2019<\/p>\n

Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar sent a shorter message<\/a>: \u2018Warm greetings to the Government and people of Hungary on their National Day. Look forward to further strengthening our ties.\u2019 Neither New Delhi nor Islamabad sent greetings in 2025.<\/p>\n

At the same time, Israel provided the clearest politically meaningful disappearance. In 2025, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa\u2019ar personally congratulated Orb\u00e1n and then-foreign minister P\u00e9ter Szijj\u00e1rt\u00f3, praised Hungary\u2019s \u2018steadfast support\u2019 for Israel and celebrated the \u2018deep friendship\u2019 between the two countries. This year, however, no similar messages were sent, signalling a significant cooling of relations compared with the years under Orb\u00e1n. The new government had already reversed Hungary\u2019s withdrawal from the International Criminal Court<\/a> (ICC), a procedure started in 2025 at the same time as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Budapest.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"Fireworks above the Danube in Budapest, Hungary, celebrating the foundation of the Christian Hungarian state on 20 August 2026. PHOTO: Tam\u00e1s Gyurkovits\/Hungarian Conservative<\/p>\n

Most neighbouring states and major EU capitals refrained from sending direct messages, which at first glance could look surprising, given the intense realignment efforts in the first months of the new government. However, this is their usual conduct: Austria, Slovakia, Romania, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Germany, Italy and Poland largely lacked greetings in earlier years as well.<\/p>\n

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, however, remains a narrower exception. He had warmly welcomed Magyar\u2019s April victory, describing it as Hungary\u2019s \u2018return to Europe\u2019, and hosted Magyar\u2019s first foreign trip<\/a> as prime minister. Poland, under the former PiS government, had at least one precedent of greeting Viktor Orb\u00e1n on 20 August 2021, signalling the strong political alignment between the two conservative leaderships. In that regard, Warsaw\u2019s absence from the list is worth attention, although it can be explained more by tensions between President Nawrocki and Tusk than by deteriorating Polish\u2013Hungarian relations.<\/p>\n

Related articles:<\/p>\n

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