Zelenskiy: Hungary’s Orban will have to choose between Russia and ‘other world’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban would have to choose between Moscow and the “other world”, and that the Hungarian leader feared Russian influence.

Zelenskiy was speaking in a televised interview to Ukrainian media. Orban held on to his sweeping majority at elections on Sunday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated Viktor Orbán for his victory in the 2022 Hungarian parliamentary election. The Russian president expressed his hopes that despite the “difficult international situation,” the two countries’ partnership will be in line with the interests of the Hungarian and Russian public.

While Orban’s victory was not completely unexpected, the scale of the majority took many by surprise. Peter Kreko, a Budapest-based analyst said that the scale of nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s victory in Hungary’s parliamentary election was “obviously unexpected even for the governmental side. The sample indicated that (Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s party) Fidesz can win (with a) about ten point advantage on the (opposition) parties list but no one expected that it would be close to 20,” he said at the online event.”

Kreko said the conservative leader benefited from a supportive media environment and institutions.