President Vladimir Putin’s ruling United Russia party has strengthened its grip on parliament in the Russia election 2026, securing nearly 58% of the vote and remaining on course for a constitutional majority in the State Duma. For Hungary, the result does not immediately change bilateral relations, but it reinforces an important reality: Budapest will continue dealing with a politically entrenched Kremlin just as the new Hungarian government is moving closer to mainstream EU and NATO positions and redefining its relationship with Moscow.
According to preliminary results reported by Anadolu, United Russia received 57.83% of the vote, up from 49.82% in the 2021 parliamentary election, after 95.18% of ballots had been processed. Central Election Commission chief Ella Pamfilova said the party was also leading in 208 of the 225 single-member constituencies and was likely to secure 355 of the State Duma’s 450 seats.
The Communist Party received 13.81%, followed by the LDPR with 8.98% and New People with 7.96%, according to the preliminary figures. A Just Russia stood at 4.96%, just below the 5% threshold for entering parliament through the party-list vote.
The three-day election was Russia’s first parliamentary vote since 2022 and took place while the war in Ukraine continues.
Russia election 2026 reinforces political continuity in Moscow
The result points primarily towards continuity rather than a major change in Russian foreign or economic policy.
That is particularly relevant for Hungary. Since Péter Magyar replaced Viktor Orbán as prime minister following the April election, Budapest has begun recalibrating a relationship with Moscow that had become unusually close by EU standards.
In early September, Hungary expelled ten Russian diplomats for activities deemed incompatible with their diplomatic status. Foreign Minister Anita Orbán stressed that Budapest was not cutting diplomatic ties with Moscow, but said the decision was necessary to protect Hungary’s security and sovereignty, Anadolu reported.
The Russian election result therefore leaves Budapest facing a familiar counterpart: Putin remains president, United Russia continues to dominate parliament, and Moscow’s political direction shows little sign of changing as a consequence of the vote.
At the same time, the election took place in conditions that make its results difficult to interpret simply as a measure of unrestricted political competition. The Yabloko party was not included on the federal party-list ballot, although some of its candidates were able to contest individual constituencies. More than 111 million people were eligible to vote, with turnout reported at 59.32%, according to the election commission figures cited by Anadolu.
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EU rejects Russian voting in occupied Ukraine
The European Union’s reaction is particularly important from a Hungarian perspective.
On Monday, the EU rejected Russia’s parliamentary voting conducted in Ukrainian territories under Russian occupation and warned that people involved could face sanctions.
According to Anadolu, the EU condemned what it called “so-called elections” in annexed Crimea and Sevastopol, as well as occupied parts of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. The bloc said the votes violated international law and Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The EU said it would “never recognise” either the holding of the votes in those territories or their results. It also warned that individuals involved in organising the elections there, as well as people deemed responsible for undermining free and fair elections inside Russia, could be targeted with sanctions.
The bloc also criticised Moscow for restricting political competition, excluding opposition forces and failing to invite observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
For Hungary, this position is more significant than it would have been under the previous government.
Budapest has recently moved closer to the foreign-policy positions of its EU and NATO partners. In a joint declaration issued on 14 September, Hungarian Foreign Minister Anita Orbán and German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul stated that the two countries continued to support Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. They also reaffirmed their commitment to a rules-based international order and closer cooperation within the EU and NATO.
That does not automatically mean Budapest will adopt every element of Brussels’ Russia policy. However, the new Hungarian government’s publicly stated position on Ukrainian territorial integrity places it considerably closer to the principles underpinning the EU’s rejection of Russia’s voting in occupied Ukrainian territory.
Energy remains Hungary’s biggest Russian connection
Diplomatic repositioning does not mean Hungary can quickly disentangle itself from Russia economically.
Energy remains the most important connection. The European Commission’s 2026 country report found that in 2025 more than 90% of Hungary’s imported oil and 74% of its imported gas originated in Russia. Hungary consequently remained one of the EU member states most dependent on Russian fossil fuels.
This dependence is increasingly at odds with the direction of EU energy policy.
The bloc has already dramatically reduced Russian fossil-fuel imports since 2022. Under the REPowerEU framework, Russian LNG imports are to be fully phased out by the end of 2026, while Russian pipeline gas imports are scheduled to end no later than 30 November 2027, according to the European Commission.
For Budapest, this means that future relations with Moscow will increasingly have to reconcile inherited Russian energy dependence with EU-wide diversification.
Paks II could become another major test
The other major Hungarian-Russian issue is nuclear energy.
Hungary’s planned Paks II nuclear power plant, contracted to Russia’s state-owned Rosatom, remains one of the largest economic links between the two countries. The EUR 12.5 billion project involves two Russian-designed VVER reactors and has suffered years of delays.
Prime Minister Péter Magyar has called for a review of the project, citing its costs and environmental issues surrounding the use of the Danube for cooling. Rosatom said in September that it was ready to discuss the project with the new Hungarian government, but had not yet received concrete proposals, Reuters reported.
The parliamentary election is unlikely on its own to alter Moscow’s position on Paks II. The more important question is how far the new Hungarian government wants to revise an agreement inherited from the Orbán administration. As we wrote earlier, Paks II could be delayed until 2035 as Rosatom schedule reveals setback.
What does the Russian result mean for Hungary?
For Hungary, the most relevant feature of the Russia election 2026 is the contrast between continuity in Moscow and change in Budapest.
United Russia’s strengthened majority gives little indication that Russia’s approach towards Ukraine, Western sanctions or relations with Europe will shift as a result of the election. The EU, meanwhile, has responded by explicitly rejecting the voting organised in occupied Ukrainian territories and signalling further sanctions against those involved.
Hungary now finds itself in a different position than during the later Orbán years. The Magyar government has reaffirmed Ukraine’s territorial integrity, expelled Russian diplomats and sought closer cooperation with EU and NATO partners.
At the same time, the country remains heavily dependent on Russian oil and gas and is tied to Moscow through the multibillion-euro Paks II project.
The election therefore does not create a new Hungarian dilemma so much as underline an existing one: Budapest is moving closer to its Western allies politically while still having to manage some of the deepest Russian economic and energy ties within the European Union.
As we wrote earlier, Hungarian intelligence services undergo sweeping reorganisation after Orbán era
