Why the Hungarian election matters for Putin, Europe and Ukraine
This Is Why
Sky News
4.0 • 552 Ratings
🗓️ 13 April 2026
⏱️ 16 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
After 16 years in power, Hungary's Viktor Orban has been defeated by Peter Magyar, whose Tisza party has won a huge parliamentary majority.
Magyar campaigned to break the country away from Russia's grip and re-establish closer ties to the European Union, in a setback for both Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. But is this a genuine turning point and a strategic win for Ukraine's war efforts?
Niall speaks to our Moscow correspondent Ivor Bennett in Budapest to find out how significant the change of regime could be across the continent.
Have you got a question for Niall? Email the show – why@sky.uk
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Sky News, the full story first. |
| 0:09.1 | The election of Hungary's new Prime Minister has pleased the European Union, wound up Vladimir Putin, and made Donald Trump look a wee bit foolish. |
| 0:21.7 | This is why. |
| 0:26.6 | Hi everyone, Neil here, and look, Hungarian general elections aren't usually global news, |
| 0:37.0 | but this one was a wee bit different. |
| 0:39.8 | This is spectacular for us, that we belong to Europe. We proved it, finally. |
| 0:47.8 | Peter Majat is Hungary's new Prime Minister. He's just won a huge majority, promising far closer ties to the European Union. |
| 0:55.3 | Now, that isn't something his predecessor, Victor Orban, was very keen on. In the 16 years he ran |
| 1:00.8 | the country, he rather preferred the company of Vladimir Putin, even blocking EU funds for Ukraine. |
| 1:07.2 | Orban's reign, well, I suppose you could describe it as right wing, as populist, at times even authoritarian, |
| 1:13.6 | all of which made him a big favourites of Donald Trump and his vice president. |
| 1:18.6 | Mr. President, you are on with about 5,000 Hungarian patriots, and I think they love you even more than they love Victor Orban. |
| 1:25.6 | Well, I can't believe that. |
| 1:28.4 | Now, if you're new to this is why, this is the sort of thing we are doing every day. |
| 1:33.4 | One story, in depth, letting you know why this particular topic should matter to you. |
| 1:38.9 | And when it comes to the election of Peter Majar, it has ramifications far beyond the Hungarian border. Our correspondent, |
| 1:46.5 | Oliver Bennett, has travelled from Moscow to Budapest to be there for the result. He joined us |
| 1:50.8 | the morning after the night before. Iva, what was actually like when the result became clear? |
| 1:56.9 | Yeah, it was pretty amazing, actually. We were down on the banks of the Danube, the other side of the river, where the opposition had organized this kind of street party, watch party. They had a big screen where the results were coming in. And every time the results pointed to a win for Tisa in that area, a massive cheer went up. And gradually, the moment dawned on people that this was happening. And when |
| 2:19.0 | the news came through that Allman had conceded, I think initially it was just disbelief. I don't |
| 2:22.9 | no one thought it would come that early. It happened around 930 local, I think, two and a half |
| 2:27.6 | hours after the polls closed. So really, really quite soon, much sooner than everyone expected. |
... |
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