Hungarian election victor Magyar says he’d speak with Putin and ask him to end the war in Ukraine

BUDAPEST, Hungary — Hungarian election winner Péter Magyar said on Monday that if Russian President Vladimir Putin were to initiate a call with him, he would speak with him and tell him to end the war in Ukraine.

“If Vladimir Putin calls, I’ll pick up the phone,” he said at his first news conference after his landslide win against Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a Putin ally. “If we did talk, I could tell him that it would be nice to end the killing after four years and end the war.”

“It would probably be a short phone conversation and I don’t think he would end the war on my advice,” he said.

Magyar's statement was likely greeted with pleasure by many across the European Union who had grown accustomed to Orbán's conciliatory tone when discussing the war or Putin.

From the jubilant crowds along the Danube in Budapest to executive offices in Brussels, praise and even glee abounded for Hungary’s next leader after he won Sunday's election in a landslide. But the outpouring after his victory focused mainly on the prospect of no longer having to deal with Orbán, who many saw as a threat to Europe’s peace and prosperity.

From Madrid to Helsinki, many hope that Magyar's win will help unshackle the 27-nation European Union as it faces hybrid warfare attacks from Moscow, an antagonistic Washington and Beijing's economic pressure. EU leaders had been increasingly frustrated with Orbán over his takeover of democratic institutions and vetoing of strategic action like a 90-billion-euro ($105 billion) loan for Ukraine.

It remains to be seen whether those hopes will be fulfilled. Magyar avoided talking about Ukraine or divisive issues like LGTBQ rights on the campaign trail, and was previously a longtime conservative insider in Orbán's party. He told The Associated Press that he would work more closely with the EU and the 32-nation NATO military alliance that was forged to thwart aggression from Moscow.

“All Hungarians know that this is a shared victory. Our homeland made up its mind. It wants to live again. It wants to be a European country,” Magyar said during his victory speech on Sunday.

Olga Oliker, the director of European Security at the International Crisis Group, said that "where Orbán slowed actions and blocked consensus, Magyar, as he defines Hungary’s relationships with its European allies, to say nothing of those with Ukraine, Russia and the United States, can help shape the future of Europe.”