Anton Hofreiter, the chair of the European Affairs Committee in the Bundestag and a member of the Greens, views the electoral defeat of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán against Peter Magyar primarily as a blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to Hofreiter’s comments to the “Tagesspiegel”, he stated that “the defeat hurts Putin the most. A negative mood likely prevails in the Kremlin”.
Hofreiter noted that Orbán had spent years blocking the European Union and had been described as an “agent of the EU’s enemies, of Putin and Trump”. He added that Orbán’s loss would also affect US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, “like all right-wing populists and radicals in Europe, because Orbán has always been their point of reference”. Furthermore, he mentioned that Orbán had provided them with partial financial support.
For the EU and the German government, Magyar’s decisive victory now creates a “window of opportunity” to genuinely assist Ukraine. With the change of government in Budapest, Hofreiter sees a “very, very big” chance to release the 90-billion-euro credit for Ukraine that has been blocked by Hungary. He emphasized that the disbursement of these funds is in the interest of European freedom and security.
Moreover, Hofreiter sees Orbán’s ouster as evidence that the rise of right-wing populism in Europe is far from inevitable. He stated that “Orbán’s defeat is a heavy blow to the far-right movement”. Regarding the new government in Budapest, Hofreiter anticipates that it will restore the rule of law, media freedom, and human rights before any frozen EU funds are released.