Reactions to Hungarian election

Orbán and his inner circle have fallen silent after the election

Viktor Orbán and his inner circle have disappeared from the public eye after what the outgoing prime minister described as a “painful” loss in Sunday’s election, Bloomberg reports.

Orbán and his foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, usually update their followers on Facebook non-stop, but since Sunday night it has been completely silent for the first time in a long time.

During the election campaign, the eventual winner of the election, Péter Magyar, openly speculated that those who became rich during Orbán’s 16-year rule might leave the country if he lost.

Orbán’s daughter and son-in-law – one of the country’s richest couples – moved to New York shortly before the election.

Kremlin not planning to congratulate: “Hungary is unfriendly”

The Kremlin is not planning to congratulate Péter Magyar on his victory in the Hungarian election. At the same time, Hungary is described as an “unfriendly country.” This is reported by the state-run Russian news agency Ria.

At a press conference, Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov elaborated on the reasoning, Bloomberg reports:

- Hungary has made its choice and we respect that. We expect to be able to continue our very pragmatic contacts with the new Hungarian government.

During his 16 years as Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán has been one of Russia's most important allies in the EU. In a phone call last fall, for example, he is said to have said that he was at Putin's "disposal".