Ukraine to cede land 'unworthy' of Hungary's 1956 resistance, Magyar says

Prefer on Google by Martin Fornusek, Francis Farrell Peter Magyar, Hungary's incoming prime minister, at a news conference following his election victory in Budapest, Hungary, on Monday, April 13, 2026. (Akos Stiller/Bloomberg via Getty Images) Ukraine has the full right to defend itself against Russian aggression and cannot be forced to cede territory, Hungary's election winner, Peter Magyar, said on April 13 in response to a question from a Kyiv Independent reporter. "If someone says this — no matter how long Fidesz politicians have said similar things — you should ask them what would happen if Russia attacked Hungary : which Hungarian county would they give up?" Magyar said at a press conference. "This is outrageous, cynical talk, unworthy of our 1956 heroes and freedom fighters," Hungary's incoming prime minister said, drawing comparisons to Hungary's anti-communist 1956 revolution. Magyar's Tisza party secured a resounding victory over Prime Minister Viktor Orban 's Fidesz in the parliamentary elections on April 12 , ending Orban's 16-year-long grip on power. The election came at a pivotal time for Ukraine , as Orban — widely regarded as the EU's most Kremlin-friendly leader — blocks a 90-billion-euro ($105 billion) loan for Kyiv and the 20th package of Russia sanctions. Magyar, a former Fidesz insider who broke with the party in 2024, promised to weed out corruption from the Orban era, mend ties with the EU, and pivot away from Fidesz's pro-Russian policies. Asked by the Kyiv Independent about U.S. President Donald Trump's pressure on Ukraine to reach a peace deal with Russia, Magyar said that "no country has the right to tell another to give up territory after a four-year war." The Hungarian politician stressed the need for U.S.-backed security guarantees for Ukraine and warned against repeating the mistakes of the 1994 Budapest Memorandum , under which Kyiv exchanged its Soviet-era nuclear arsenal for vague assurances. Magyar also said his government would pursue friendly relations with all neighbors, including Kyiv — but named the "settlement of the rights of the Hungarian minority " in Ukraine as a precondition for normalizing ties. Orban has long accused Ukraine of discriminating against its ethnic Hungarian community, primarily through language laws. Kyiv has rejected Orban's accusations but has signaled its readiness to resolve any potential disputes . Earlier during the press conference, Magyar reiterated his party's pledge to decrease reliance on Russian energy through diversification. At the same time, he noted that Hungary's "geography cannot be changed," stressing that ensuring cheap oil and gas for Hungarian citizens and companies remains the priority. Hungary, a Central European landlocked country, is largely dependent on Russian pipeline oil and gas. Tisza has vowed to end this dependence by 2035, while the EU aims to halt Russian energy imports already by the end of 2027. "I believe that once this war ends — and we very much hope negotiations will succeed and it will not drag on for years — at that moment Europe will lift these sanctions," Magyar said, adding that buying cheap resources is in Europe's interest. "It is easy to say principled things, and I understand the moral arguments, and no one defends human rights more strongly than I do. But still, I ask that we do not tie our own hands completely." Magyar said he does not intend to call Russian President Vladimir Putin, but would receive his call to urge him to end the war, which has cost "tens of thousands of Russian lives."