What to expect from Hungary's new government: key takeaways from Ambassador Shandor's interview

The head of Ukraine’s diplomatic mission in Hungary, Fedir Shandor, is a very unusual ambassador.

He has no diplomatic experience and may still get confused about details of the Foreign Ministry’s personnel hierarchy, but he has advantages that are hard to dispute.

Shandor, from Zakarpattia, is an ethnic Hungarian. Considering that for official Budapest support for its diaspora abroad is a priority, it is an advantage to have at the head of the embassy a person who comes from this community and can say whether the latest claims against Ukraine are exaggerated.

Despite Shandor’s Hungarian background, Orbán’s regime did not welcome his appointment warmly, constantly sending propagandists against him. Because of this, the ambassador refused interviews with Ukrainian media for over a year. But the victory of the Tisza party in the elections opened a new chapter in Ukraine–Hungary relations.

Read more of Fedir Shandor’s first major interview with European Pravda in Budapest, in the article: Ambassador Shandor: Simply returning the money stolen by Hungary to Ukraine is not an option. There must be punishment.

So we expect a renewal of good-neighbourly relations. We are ready for them, we are open, and the Hungarian people are open too – they demonstrated that at the elections.

History proves this. Ukraine’s first diplomatic mission in the world was in Hungary. Hungary was the first to recognise the Holodomor. In many difficult situations, such as floods in Zakarpattia, Hungary was the first to provide assistance. Previously, we received reverse gas flows and reverse oil supplies from Hungary, and so on.

What do we expect from Hungary?

First, the restoration of the expert group on national minority rights.

Ukraine is ready to provide guarantees for preserving minority rights.

Second, reopening the Hungarian–Ukrainian economic commission, which has not worked since 2020. On our side it is headed by Deputy Prime Minister Taras Kachka. On the Hungarian side, we are waiting for its composition to be determined after the new government is formed.

This commission means opening logistics hubs, restoring work in the banking sector. It must make decisions along the pharmaceutical line, which are very important for Hungarian industry.

We also hope that such nonsense as "local sanctions" introduced by Hungary against certain Ukrainian products will end.

There should be not just the return of valuables transported by Ukrainian cash-in-transit vehicles through Hungary, but also punishment for the Hungarian security service representatives responsible. The Hungarian press named who did it, where it happened, and what violations occurred.

For now, Ukrainian money and the cash-in-transit vehicles remain evidence of the committed crime.

Of course, we want work to start on opening clusters in negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU, but this will only be possible after procedural matters and Hungary’s internal processes are completed–then the pan-European processes will follow.

Another issue is energy: gasoline, diesel and other petroleum products. Gas sales, electricity sales, since there is the Paks nuclear power plant.

We need to make greater use of Hungarian logistics. We have nine border crossings, very convenient for transport.

Contact between the two foreign ministers has already taken place.

They have exchanged greetings and positive narratives. And we can now be confident that there will be official dialogue after Péter Magyar officially becomes prime minister of Hungary.