The new National Assembly confirmed Magyar as prime minister on May 9. In his inaugural address, he said Hungarians had given his government a mandate “to change not only the government but the system as well.” To lead that change in foreign affairs, Magyar named Anita Orbán as Minister of Foreign Affairs, with the ministry’s former trade portfolio transferred to the economy ministry.
Unrelated to the former prime minister, Orbán previously served as Hungary’s energy security ambassador from 2010 to 2015, before joining Tisza earlier this year. Her appointment signaled Budapest’s intent to reorient its relations with both Brussels and Kyiv.
While stopping short of arms deliveries or direct participation in the EU’s EUR 90 billion Ukraine loan package, Magyar said Hungary sought friendly relations with all its neighbors and stated that no third country has the right to demand Ukraine cede territory. At his post-election press conference on April 13, he said he would deliver that position to President Vladimir Putin directly if given the opportunity.
On May 13, Russia launched a mass aerial assault across Ukraine involving more than 800 drones. Transcarpathia, Ukraine’s westernmost region bordering Hungary and home to approximately 150,000 ethnic Hungarians, was struck by 11 drones targeting critical infrastructure across several districts.
The attack damaged a transformer and a railway station in Svaliava (known to Hungarian speakers as Szolyva) and an industrial facility in Uzhhorod (Ungvár), the first Russian strike on the city since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Hungarian railway workers at Chop (Csap) station, near the border, were evacuated to shelters and brought into Hungary.
Following the first meeting of his cabinet that same day, Magyar announced that the new foreign minister would summon Russian Ambassador Yevgeny Stanislavov for a meeting the following morning. Orbán had confirmed earlier that the government was aware of five drone strikes on Transcarpathia and said the situation would be addressed at the cabinet level.
It was the first time a Hungarian government had called in Russia’s envoy over an attack on Transcarpathia. Orbán’s predecessor as foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, had not summoned the Russian ambassador over any of Russia’s strikes on the region during four years of war.
On May 14, Anita Orbán met Stanislavov at Hungary’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, delivered Budapest’s formal condemnation and called for an end to Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha thanked Magyar’s government for its response and Orbán for her “principled and swift reaction.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the summons as “an important message,” writing that “Moscow has once again shown itself to be a common threat not only to Ukraine, but also to neighboring countries and Europe as a whole.”
On May 18, Orbán and Sybiha held a phone call in which both governments announced that expert-level bilateral consultations on the rights of the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia would begin immediately. Both sides designated negotiation delegations, with the first session held online the same day.
The consultations intend to address language use, education and administrative rights; issues Budapest had raised for years as conditions for lifting its block on Ukraine’s EU accession process. Orbán said the talks could provide “an important foundation for a reassuring and swift settlement of minority rights issues.” Sybiha wrote that Ukraine is “ready to open a new, mutually beneficial chapter in Ukrainian-Hungarian relations without delay.”
On May 19, Zelenskyy updated Ukraine’s European foreign policy priorities for May and June following a working meeting with Sybiha, describing prospects for a “constructive reset of relations” with Hungary as tangible and noting that active dialogue with Budapest’s new government was already underway. He added that Ukraine had completed the steps necessary to advance EU accession negotiations and expected results from Budapest regarding the opening of further negotiation clusters.
“The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and other government officials are preparing for a format of bilateral consultations with Hungary; I am counting on results,” Zelenskyy said.
Before taking office in late April, Magyar had proposed that he and Zelenskyy meet symbolically in Berehove (Beregszász), a Hungarian-majority city in Transcarpathia, to address minority rights as the foundation for improved bilateral relations. “If we can resolve these issues, we can certainly open a new chapter in Ukrainian-Hungarian bilateral relations,” Magyar said.
This article was first published in the Budapest Business Journal print issue of May 22, 2026.
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