Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Hungary has been the only country in the European Union and NATO that consistently blocks aid to Ukraine and sanctions against Russia, which is aggressive. This is led by Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the ruling Fidesz party, and the Christian Democratic Party of Hungary, which has won four consecutive parliamentary elections since 2010. However, one of the main reasons Orban and the Russian leadership support Russia in this war of extermination is not only economic and geopolitical interests but also their policy of staying in power by mobilizing Hungarian society around historical narratives and maintaining a significant Hungarian diaspora abroad, mainly in neighboring countries, including Ukraine. The issue of the Hungarian national minority in Zakarpattia remains a primary source of interstate tensions between Ukraine and Hungary and requires greater attention.
