By Andrew Osborn and Dmitry Antonov
MOSCOW, April 13 (Reuters) - Russian hardliners cast Viktor Orban's defeat in Hungary as a serious blow that would unlock EU funds for Ukraine to fight on against Russia for another year, but the Kremlin played down the outcome, saying it was ready for talks with Orban's successor.
Orban, Hungary's veteran nationalist leader who lost power on Sunday nL1N40V01B to upstart centre-right rival Peter Magyar after 16 years in office, was a welcome guest in Moscow, where he held talks with President Vladimir Putin as recently as November.
Orban ensured that Hungary continued to buy Russian oil and gas despite Moscow's war in Ukraine https://www.reuters.com/world/ukraine-russia-war/, allowed Russia to start work on building a new nuclear power plant south of Budapest, and often spoke out against sanctions on Russia while flatly opposing Kyiv's bid to join the 27-nation bloc.
He also blocked a 90-billion euro ($105 billion) EU loan to Ukraine after accusing it of sabotaging Russian oil deliveries to his country by dragging its feet over repairing a damaged pipeline, something Kyiv denied.
Magyar is more of an unknown quantity for Moscow. He has combined pro-EU and pro-NATO rhetoric with a public recognition that he will need to hold talks with Putin and continue to buy Russian oil and gas for now despite talk of diversifying.
The Kremlin made clear, though, that it was ready to quickly turn the page if he was. Making no mention of Orban by name, it said it respected the choice of the Hungarian people and was ready to do business with Magyar.
"We look forward to continuing our highly pragmatic engagement with Hungary’s new leadership," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
"We noted Magyar’s statement regarding his willingness to engage in dialogue. Naturally, this will be beneficial for both Moscow and Budapest," said Peskov.
Peskov later told state TV it wasn't yet clear what the stance of the new Hungarian leadership would be, and that the Kremlin would not be congratulating Magyar on his win due to Hungary's formal designation as an "unfriendly country".
UNLOCKING OF EU FUNDS?
Hardliners and war bloggers inside Russia were almost unanimous, however, that Orban's defeat was bad news for Moscow.
"Orban's defeat in the elections will have one consequence for us here in Russia. But it is a very significant one," said Andrei Medvedev, a blogger and journalist with a large following.
"Now ... Ukraine will receive EU funds, and with them, the resources to wage war for at least a year. It goes without saying that the Ukrainian Armed Forces and numerous contractors will focus on further developing their drone systems and missile capabilities, as well as launching strikes deep into our country’s territory," he said.
Ramzai, another influential blogger, was equally gloomy.
"It is clear that Hungary will soon cease to block the adoption of anti-Russian sanctions and the EU’s multi-billion-euro support for Ukraine. Russia’s contracts for the completion of the Paks (II) nuclear power plant and for the supply of gas and oil will also be called into question," he said.
Oleg Ignatov, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group think tank, said Hungary's close ties with Russia were unlikely to vanish overnight but would likely narrow to the strictly pragmatic.
Ultimately, though, he said future ties would be determined by how Magyar decided to deal with the issue of Russian oil and gas supplies, which the EU as a bloc wants to phase out.
"If Hungary works with the rest of the EU to enable this (a phase-out) to happen, then Hungary’s role as a more Moscow-friendly outpost within the EU will indeed be over," said Ignatov.
"If it does not, things stand to be rather more complicated."
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(Reporting by Andrew Osborn and Dmitry Antonov, Writing by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Gareth Jones)
