Kremlin won’t congratulate Hungary’s new opposition leader, citing ‘unfriendly country’ status it ignored when congratulating Orban
Russia will not congratulate Peter Magyar, leader of Hungary’s Tisza party, on his parliamentary election victory, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
“We don’t send congratulations to unfriendly countries. And Hungary is an unfriendly country — it supports sanctions against us,” Peskov told propagandist Alexander Yunashev.
When Yunashev asked whether that meant Moscow had been friendly only with Prime Minister Viktor Orban personally, Peskov said: “We had a dialogue with him.”
Hungary, like other EU member states, was placed on Russia’s list of “unfriendly states” by a government decree on March 5, 2022. In April 2022, Putin sent Orban a congratulatory telegram on his coalition’s victory in Hungary’s parliamentary elections, the Kremlin’s press service said.
Speaking to reporters at a briefing on April 13, Peskov said the Kremlin “respects” the choice Hungarians made and that Russian authorities expect to continue “very pragmatic contacts” with Hungary’s new leadership.
In elections held in Hungary on April 12, Viktor Orban’s ruling Fidesz party was defeated by the opposition Tisza party, led by Peter Magyar. Orban had been considered one of Putin’s few remaining allies in Europe.
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