Orbán will miss the final EU summit after losing the election in Hungary

Outgoing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will not take part in the informal EU summit to be held in Cyprus on April 23–24.

According to sources in EU diplomatic circles, he is refusing to attend his last symbolic meeting with European colleagues after 16 years in power.

The decision follows Orbán’s heavy defeat in the parliamentary elections on April 12. Péter Magyar’s Tisza party won 138 of 199 seats and about 53.6% of the vote. Orbán’s Fidesz party secured only 55 mandates. Speaking to supporters on the banks of the Danube in Budapest, Magyar declared: “Together, we have overthrown the Hungarian government.”

The last time Orbán took part in a meeting of EU leaders was on March 19 in Brussels. At that time, according to European sources, he came under harsh criticism for blocking a €90 billion loan package for Ukraine. Orbán had previously backed this mechanism in December 2025, but later blocked it, citing a dispute over an oil pipeline damaged by the war. As one EU official told Reuters, attempts to persuade him to change his position were unsuccessful.

That move caused irritation among EU partners. In Brussels, officials believed Orbán had used negotiations with the Union in the interests of his domestic election campaign.

At the summit in Cyprus, which is being organized by President Nikos Christodoulides as part of Cyprus’s presidency of the Council of the EU, Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to speak on the subject of Russian aggression. The agenda also includes the situation in the Middle East and discussion of the EU’s next long-term budget. In European Council President António Costa’s invitation, Orbán’s departure was not mentioned separately.

After Orbán’s defeat, the EU hopes to move quickly back to the issue of unblocking aid for Ukraine. According to Bloomberg, Cyprus intends to put the loan issue before EU ambassadors as quickly as possible. On April 14, the European Commission said it hoped to make the first disbursement from the €90 billion package already in the second quarter of 2026, although three documents still need to be prepared for that to happen.

Péter Magyar has already called on Orbán to lift the veto before leaving office. He also appealed to Hungarian President Tamás Sulyok to convene the new parliament as soon as possible so that the transfer of power can take place before the beginning of May. For now, Orbán remains acting prime minister, but his era of blocking EU decisions appears to be drawing to a close.