On 14 May, the president of Hungary was inaugurated and elected by the people on 10 March 2022. The new president, Katalin Novak, said that she was ready to correct the international relations that had developed with other countries because of the Russian-Ukrainian war.
Earlier, Hungary refused to supply arms to Ukraine. Moreover, prime minister Viktor Orban has declared his refusal to consider an oil embargo on Russia.
The dependence of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia on Russian oil and energy poses a challenge to reaching an embargo agreement. Note that the European Commission in early May proposed to include an oil embargo in the sanctions package.
Ukraine and other European countries hope to change the situation with the ban on the purchase of Russian oil and electricity after the inauguration of Katalin Novak.
At the ceremony, Hungary’s new president has already condemned Russia’s invasion of independent Ukraine and Putin’s actions. Novak has also said that he will improve international relations, which have deteriorated due to the position of Hungary regarding the refusal of Russian services. The first country to visit will be Poland. Relations between Budapest and Warsaw deteriorated precisely because the Hungarian government refused to support Ukraine. Countries want to find a way out of this situation now.
"We condemn Putin’s aggression, armed invasion of a sovereign state. We invariably say "no" to all the efforts aimed at rebuilding the Soviet Union," Katalin Novak finished the speech.
