Are Hungary and the EU friends again? The Ring in Budapest
The Ring visits Budapest to ask whether Prime Minister Péter Magyar has reset Hungary’s ties with the EU. After April’s landslide, Brussels agreed to release €16.4bn in blocked funds, but several issues remain unresolved.
Published on 14/10/2026 - 16:32 GMT+2•Updated 20:30
The Ring, the Euronews weekly debate show, travels to Budapest to find out how Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar is resetting relations with the EU after years of tension under the previous government.
Magyar, who won a landslide victory in April’s parliamentary election, has been warmly welcomed by Brussels. In May, he reached a deal with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on the release of €16.4 billion in funds blocked over longstanding rule-of-law and corruption concerns.
Hungary has also lifted its veto on opening of EU accession negotiation clusters for Ukraine.
However, some issues remain unresolved, including migration and the rights of sexual minorities.
So, has Magyar delivered on his promise to bring Hungary back to the heart of the EU?
In the Budapest edition of The Ring, Tibor Navracsics, a former minister in Viktor Orbán’s government and a former EU commissioner, and István Szent-Iványi, a foreign policy expert and former ambassador, debate the question.
