Story perspectives

Hungary's New Govt Softens Ukraine Stance, Schedules Minority Talks

5/18/2026

Summary

Story summary

Prime Minister Peter Magyar’s new centre-right government has ended the overt hostility toward Ukraine that defined Viktor Orbán’s rule.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and Hungarian Foreign Minister Anita Orban will meet this week to discuss rights of roughly 150,000 ethnic Hungarians in Transcarpathia.
Magyar opposes a fast-track EU accession for Kyiv and, after a drone strike in western Ukraine, summoned Russia’s ambassador, showing readiness to confront aggression.

History

Historical Context

Signed on 5 December 1994, the Budapest Memorandum gave Ukraine security assurances from Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom after it relinquished its Soviet-era nuclear arsenal. Russia breached those assurances with the 2014 annexation of Crimea and the 2022 invasion, prompting Kyiv and Budapest to renegotiate minority protections amid renewed Russian aggression.

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Story summary

Prime Minister Peter Magyar’s new centre-right government has ended the overt hostility toward Ukraine that defined Viktor Orbán’s rule.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and Hungarian Foreign Minister Anita Orban will meet this week to discuss rights of roughly 150,000 ethnic Hungarians in Transcarpathia.
Magyar opposes a fast-track EU accession for Kyiv and, after a drone strike in western Ukraine, summoned Russia’s ambassador, showing readiness to confront aggression.

1 / 2