The new head of Hungary left for Brussels

The goal of the new leader of Hungary is to turn the page on the tense relations accumulated during the administration of former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
The leaders of the European Union assessed his victory as an important turning point that ended the 16-year rule of Orbán, who is close to the Kremlin.

“Huge mandate, strong authority, great responsibility. We know what we need to do, to return the funding to the EU that Hungarians are entitled to,” Madyar wrote on social networks while leaving Budapest.

Although Magyar will only become prime minister next month, his team has already held two rounds of talks with senior EU officials in an attempt to bring Hungary back into the cooperation framework.

The 27 EU member states last week approved a major loan to Ukraine and new sanctions against Russia, which Hungary had blocked for months.

European partners now want Madyar to unlock EU funds meant to arm Ukraine and to lift Orbán’s veto blocking the next phase of Kiev’s EU membership.