The veto had been in place since February, when outgoing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had linked its withdrawal to the resumption of Russian oil flows through the Druzhba pipeline, which carries Russian crude to Hungary and Slovakia under an EU sanctions exemption introduced in 2022. Flows through the pipeline had been halted since January after Kyiv said a Russian drone strike damaged a section in western Ukraine. On April 21, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that the repairs had been completed and oil could resume flowing.
Orbán indicated that Budapest would lift the veto once transit resumed, and EU ambassadors gathered the following day to give the preliminary go-ahead. Final approval came on April 23 at the European Council session in Ayia Napa, Cyprus, which Zelenskyy also attended. The Tisza Party’s April 12 election victory had stripped Fidesz of any governing mandate to maintain the veto, and the pipeline announcement gave Orbán the occasion to withdraw it before leaving office, although he chose not to attend the summit personally.
The EUR 90 bln package will be disbursed over two years, with EUR 28.3 bln earmarked for military support and EUR 16.7 bln for budget support in 2026, both conditional on Kyiv meeting reform benchmarks. The military component includes provisions directing funding to European rather than U.S. manufacturers wherever possible. Ukraine will only be required to repay the principal if Russia agrees to war reparations, which Moscow has ruled out.
The joint borrowing excludes Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The same April 23 session cleared a package of Russia sanctions that Hungary and Slovakia had blocked since February, when it had been scheduled to mark the war’s fourth anniversary.
With these impediments cleared, Magyar moved to establish his government’s position on Ukraine ahead of taking office. At an April 13 press conference, Magyar outlined his Ukraine policy: Kyiv is the victim in the war, no country has the right to demand that another cede territory, and his government would not block the EUR 90 bln loan. He said that if given the opportunity to speak directly with President Putin, he would urge Russia to end the war. He also said Ukraine’s EU membership was not realistic within 10 years and that he would oppose any fast-track accession process.
On April 28, Magyar received Zoltán Babják, the mayor of Berehove (known to Hungarian-speakers as Beregszász), who had traveled from Ukraine to Budapest. The city lies in Zakarpattia Oblast, western Ukraine and is situated near the border with Hungary. It is the cultural center of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine; Hungarians constitute roughly half of its population. After the meeting, Magyar announced on Facebook that he was proposing a summit with Zelenskyy in Berehove for early June to discuss minority rights and open “a new chapter in bilateral relations.” He called on Ukraine to act.
“The time has come for Ukraine to lift the legal restrictions that have been in place for more than a decade and for the Hungarians of Transcarpathia to regain all their cultural, linguistic, administrative, and higher education rights,” Magyar wrote. His demands largely followed the 11-point list submitted by Orbán’s government in 2024, though Magyar omitted the most politically contentious items, including demands for changes to Ukraine’s electoral system.
Babják responded publicly the same day, pushing back on Magyar’s characterization of conditions in Transcarpathia. There was “no question of any infringement of the rights of the national community,” the mayor wrote on Facebook. He added that minority rights were regulated by Ukrainian law and implemented in practice, that Zelenskyy personally oversees these issues and has met the community repeatedly, and that substantial resources had been invested in Transcarpathian infrastructure, including a new district hospital, roads, and border-crossing facilities.
Responding to Magyar’s proposal for the leaders to meet, Zelenskyy’s adviser Dmytro Lytvyn told journalists on April 29 that the president “has not yet approved his schedule for June” and that summits between heads of state are arranged through official bilateral channels rather than public announcements.
Magyar traveled to Brussels the same day for his first meetings with EU leadership since the election, and met European Council President António Costa. Citing sources familiar with the discussions, Bloomberg reported that Magyar told Costa that Ukraine must expand rights for its Hungarian minority before Budapest would approve the opening of EU accession negotiations with Kyiv. EU officials had urged Magyar to allow the accession process to advance once he takes office. He is set to be sworn in as prime minister on Saturday, May 9.
This article was first published in the Budapest Business Journal print issue of May 8, 2026.
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