Péter Magyar, leader of the Tisza Party that won Hungary’s parliamentary elections on Sunday, told domestic outlet Népszava that the new government will have to enter into talks with Moscow:
“It would be good to have a government that deals with the real problems of the Hungarian people. Of course, in that case we would have to sit down at the negotiating table with the Russian president. The geographical position of Russia and Hungary will not change. Our energy dependence will also remain for some time. Diversification must be strengthened, but it will not happen overnight. If necessary, we will negotiate, but we will not become friends.”
Speaking to supporters on the evening of April 12, after the election results were mostly in, Magyar said that Tisza had won because Hungary “wants to become a European country again…a country where no one is persecuted for dissent. Where no one is stigmatized for loving differently than the majority.”
According to data from the National Election Office of Hungary, as of the morning of April 13, 98.94% of ballots have been counted. The agency reports that Tisza has secured 138 seats in the 199-seat parliament, thus earning a constitutional majority. Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party will hold 55 seats in the new parliament. Another six mandates go to the Our Homeland Movement.
Despite support coming from both Moscow and Washington, Viktor Orbán conceded defeat on election night, congratulating Tisza on its victory. Less than a week before the vote, U.S. Vice President JD Vance visited Budapest. “I did want to send a signal to everybody, particularly the bureaucrats in Brussels, who have done everything that they can to hold down the people of Hungary because they don't like the leader who has actually stood up for the people of Hungary,” Vance said, expressing support for the outgoing prime minister.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin will not send an official congratulatory message to Péter Magyar, given that Hungary is an “unfriendly” country, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. However, this status did not prevent Vladimir Putin from congratulating Viktor Orbán’s coalition on its victory in the parliamentary elections in April 2022, when the country was also officially listed as “unfriendly.”
“We do not send congratulations to unfriendly countries. And Hungary is an unfriendly country; it supports sanctions against us,” Peskov said as quoted by Interfax.
