Ukraine lifts Hungary advisory

Ukraine lifted its advice against travel to Hungary on Monday, one day after Viktor Orbán lost power and Péter Magyar’s Tisza Party won Hungary’s parliamentary election. (ukrinform.net) Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the warning was canceled because Hungary’s election campaign had ended and the “heightened risks of provocations” had subsided. Ukraine had issued the advisory on April 8 and also told citizens not to register as election observers. (aa.com.tr) (english.nv.ua) Hungary voted on April 12, and Orbán conceded after 16 years in office. Reuters reported on April 13 that Magyar’s opposition alliance won by a landslide and that his government would not support fast-track European Union entry for Ukraine. (reuters.com) (cbsnews.com) The advisory was tied to a campaign in which Orbán and his allies accused Ukraine of interference and used Ukraine repeatedly as an election issue. Before the vote, Kyiv said the rhetoric had increased the chance of incidents involving Ukrainian citizens in Hungary. (kyivpost.com 1) (kyivpost.com 2) Relations between Kyiv and Budapest had been strained long before the election. Orbán had repeatedly clashed with the European Union over aid to Ukraine and maintained closer ties with Moscow than most European Union leaders after Russia’s full-scale invasion. (politico.eu) (kyivpost.com) Kyiv is signaling that the end of the campaign may lower the political temperature, but not that the policy disputes are over. Magyar has called for closer ties with the European Union, while also opposing weapons deliveries to Ukraine and promising a referendum on Ukraine’s European Union membership. (aljazeera.com) (politico.eu) President Volodymyr Zelensky said before the vote that Ukraine would work with any Hungarian leader chosen by Hungarian voters. Monday’s move on travel advice was Kyiv’s first concrete step after the result. (kyivpost.com) (ukrinform.net)