Hungary’s Post-Orbán Foreign Policy

Hungary’s 2026 parliamentary elections ended Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s 16-year tenure and were widely described as pivotal for the country. Orbán’s successor, Péter Magyar, campaigned on rebuilding his country’s relations with NATO and the EU and reducing its dependence on Russia. How much of Hungary’s foreign policy is changing? What might stay the same?

On October 28, The National Interest welcomed three experts to address transatlantic relations, energy, migration policy, Ukraine, and Hungary’s relations with the European Union:

—István Kiss, Chairman of the Board of the Danube Institute of the United States. Among other posts, he has been a Senior Research Fellow at the Századvég Foundation and a Political Adviser in Hungary’s Prime Minister’s Office.

—Dr. Mónika Palotai, Senior Research Fellow at the Religious Freedom Institute, and a lawyer and former journalist. She has worked as a visiting fellow at the Hudson Institute and as a business consultant.

—Dr. Kristóf Veres, Non-resident Fellow at the Center for the National Interest and a former researcher at Budapest’s Migration Research Institute. He holds a Ph.D. in history from Hungary’s Eötvös Loránd University.

Jacob Heilbrunn, Editor of The National Interest, moderated the discussion.