These heads of government congratulated Orbán on his election victory – UPDATE

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday congratulated Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on the ruling Fidesz-Christian Democrat alliance’s victory in Hungary’s general election, the Kremlin’s press office said.

Putin

Putin said he hoped that “despite the difficult international situation, bilateral partnership ties will develop fully in line with the interests of the people of Russia and Hungary,” the statement said.

• read also: This is how Putin congratulates Orbán on election victory

Morawiecki

Meanwhile, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told a press conference that the results of Hungary’s democratic election should be respected.

“Regardless of our relations with Hungary, we must note that the Fidesz-Christian Democrat alliance won its fourth consecutive election with the best possible results, securing a two-thirds majority in the process,” he said.

Concerning sanctions against Russia, the Polish prime minister said “Hungary should not be used as a diversion” by the media when Germany had delayed strong sanctions. The European Union is not hindered in imposing more stringent sanctions by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban but rather “by large countries looking out for their business ties,” he said, noting that Orban had so far voted for all sanctions.

Answering a question, Morawiecki said he would ask Orban to support even stricter sanctions against Russia.

• read also: PM Orbán wins fourth successive term with landslide victory!

Zeman

Later on Monday, Czech President Milos Zeman wired a message of congratulation to Orban, saying “the Hungarian people support you because you have always put their interests first, and see serving your country as a calling.”

He praised Hungarian-Czech cooperation, and called for the Visegrad Group to be given high priority. “I am convinced that central Europe has great potential in bilateral and international cooperation,” he said.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said he hoped Hungary would “take a more active part” in finding a solution to the situation in Ukraine. “Europe has to be united its support of Ukraine, where Russia is committing war crimes,” he said.

Jansa

Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa congratulated Orban and Fidesz in a tweet “on this historic victory for Hungary, Europe and the entire free world.”

Fice

Former Slovak President Robert Fico, the head of the opposition Smer-SD party, said Orban had “very clearly” built on Hungary’s independence and economic prosperity. Orban puts Hungarian interests first, and did not allow the country to be “dragged into” the conflict in Ukraine, he said.

Fico said the election results in Hungary were “not surprising at all”, and he noted that during his presidency, he and Orban had worked together to ensure stable Hungarian-Slovak ties.

Other leaders

Later on Monday that numerous other heads of state and government have also congratulated Orban. Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanjahu called him by phone on Monday, as did Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, and Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger, he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India congratulated Orbán on Twitter and Li Keqiang of China wired a message of congratulations.

Congratulations, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, on your victory in the Parliamentary elections in Hungary. Look forward to continue working with you to further strengthen the close and friendly India-Hungary ties.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 4, 2022

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, Croatian President Zoran Milanovic and French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, among others, published statements.

Read more news about 2022 Hungarian parliamentary election

UPDATE

Brothers of Italy

Giorgia Meloni, leader of the Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, congratulated Orban on his “remarkable victory”, saying Brussels needed to respect the will of the Hungarian voters.

She said “not even the disorderly election concourse of the entirety of the left and the … far right” had been enough to “defeat the Hungarian prime minister”. Meloni said Orban had been criticised for years “for his policies of protecting the borders and the concept of the family”, but “no one has thanked him for the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees taken in over the last few weeks”.

Source: MTI