With Orban Gone, China Has Lost Its Best Friend in the EU

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

64% : Incoming Prime Minister Peter Magyar has suggested that Hungary would become more cooperative with the EU.
61% : During Viktor Orban's 16 years as the prime minister, Hungary became the most China-friendly EU country.
58% : Indeed, Hungary - like its Central European neighbors - is highly integrated within Central European value chains, with most of their trade and investment exchanges being within the EU, especially Germany.
57% : So walking back from the uniquely China-friendly position within the EU that Orban has taken for years can win political points for the new government.
54% : Although not moving from one extreme to another, Magyar is probably going to stick to the EU mainstream when it comes to China, to focus on improving relations with Brussels (and unfreezing the EU funds for Hungary).
52% : And while much of commentary focuses on the implications for the European Union, United States, and Russia; China also had a stake here.
52% : The new Hungarian government will obviously have to work with China and Chinese investors that have arrived in the country in the recent years, establishing some of the most important Chinese factories in the EV and battery sector in the EU.
35% : While not turning Hungary into a China hawk, it can be expected that the government under Magyar would not veto EU criticism of China and would refrain from rhetorical support for China.
32% : It was Orban who decided to send friendly signals to China as part of his political program, which has increasingly focused on criticism of liberal democracy, the EU, and the West.
31% : Under Orban, Hungary blocked common EU positions on issues such as China's human rights situation, policies in Hong Kong, maritime disputes in the South China Sea, or Taiwan.

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