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EUROPEAN LEADERS WEREN’T shy about hiding their relief that soon-to-be former Hungarian prime minister Viktor Órban didn’t show up for an informal European Council meeting in Cyprus ahead of the EU Budget.
Órban conceded defeat after 16-years of power in Hungary earlier this month, he remains in power for another month, but seems to have decided to skip what was meant to be his last EU summit.
Despite the challenging topics on the agenda for talks, European leaders were visibly relaxed as they chatted to the media from a red carpet in balmy Ayia Napa last night.
The sun and sea breeze may have contributed to some loose-lipped comments on their feelings on the Kremlin-friendly leader’s absence too.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk quipped before Friday’s working dinner that there were finally “no Russians in the room”.
“For the first time in years there were no Russians in the room, if you know what I mean,” Tusk told journalists as he arrived at the summit venue in Cyprus.
But to be fair to Tusk, he has been constant in refusing to hide his feelings on Orbán.
It was reported that he personally messaged Hungary’s newly elected prime minister, Peter Magyar, to congratulate him on his win and Orbán’s demise. He ended the message with the Hungarian phrase “Ruszkik Haza”, which means Russians Go Home.
Welcome back to Europe! 🇵🇱🇭🇺 pic.twitter.com/OycXLz1p6u
— Donald Tusk (@donaldtusk) April 13, 2026
In a video shared on X, he appeared to call Magyar to share his glee.
“Oh, I’m so happy. I think I’m happier than you,” he said while beaming.
The celebratory mood wasn’t confined to Tusk. After Magyar’s victory speech earlier this month, Hungarian politician Zsolt Hegedus danced on stage in front of the parliament building.
However, neither Magyar nor his dancing entourage were at the Cyprus talks.
But Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said he thinks “there is a little bit too much euphoria” over Orbán’s absence.
“In my experience, I’ve been here for a year and a half, he was, of course, often a difficult partner, but never an impossible partner,” he said.
De Wever would have been impressed at stony-faced Taoiseach Micheál Martin, who was also at the meetings but didn’t seem to be embracing the party atmosphere.
When asked by reporters if he took a dip in the Mediterranean yet, “certainly not” was Martin’s curt answer.
However, he did go as far as describing Orbán as “unreasonable, to put it mildly”.
He said it was “good news” that the obstruction to Ukraine support in the form of Orbán has been removed.
“I thought Hungary and Victor, in our view, were unreasonable, to put it mildly, in terms of his approach to Ukraine,” he added.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who also landed in Cyprus yesterday, took a similarly mild-mannered approach to Orbán – who has been accused by critics of acting as a Trojan horse for the Kremlin.
After Orbán’s loss, Budapest dropped its veto on a 90-billion-euro loan for Kyiv, which Europe officially gave the green light for yesterday. Zelenskyy welcomed the news, but was more concerned about Ukraine’s future than bad mouthing the Hungarian Prime Minister.
EuroNews reported that after the green light was given for the loan, Zelenskyy told reporters on WhatsApp that Ukraine “does not need symbolic membership in the EU”.
Speaking to reporters last night, Zelenskyy said wanted EU leaders to move Ukraine to the next step in its bid to join the bloc. “We will push everybody,” he said.
However, not all members of the EU club want to fast track Ukraine’s status to full membership.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said today there was no prospect of Ukraine’s “immediate accession” to the EU, but suggested Kyiv could join meetings of the bloc’s members without voting rights.
Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden said “you simply cannot become a member of a club without meeting the conditions”, while De Wever said “fast tracks are not possible”.
Conversation didn’t remain serious for long though. De Wever seemed more keen to speak to reporters about his rescue cat Maximus than anything else.
When a reporter asked De Wever about Ukraine enlargement, he said: “I want a question about Maximus the cat, you promised”.
Maximus, the prime minister’s grey Scottish fold cat, has become an online sensation in recent months.
The formal meetings ended this afternoon, but talks on many of the issues raised, including the next seven-year EU budget, will continue in the future.
Ireland will be hosting a similar event during its EU presidency, which begins in July.
A meeting of the European Political Community, an informal meeting of the European Council, and 22 informal meetings of Ministers from across the EU will also be held in Ireland during its term hosting the presidency.
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