Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán congratulated Vladimir Putin on his "victory" in the pseudo-elections of the Russian president. In the letter, he added that he was glad that the cooperation between Hungary and Russia "is based on mutual respect."
This was stated by the spokesman of the Prime Minister of Hungary, Bertalan Havasi, reports the Hungarian publication Index.
"Hungary is on the side of peace. We are convinced that maintaining the dialogue is a fundamental condition for establishing peace as soon as possible," Orbán wrote.
Orban also said that mutual respect between the countries allows discussing important issues in the "current complex geopolitical situation." He assured Putin that Hungary is ready to increase cooperation between the countries in those areas that are not limited by international law.
Recently, Putin "won" for the fifth time in the pseudo-elections of the President of Russia. The Central Election Commission did not register a single opposition or anti-war candidate. Orban is the only one of the leaders of the European Union who congratulated Putin on his "victory", because most countries consider these "elections" to be fake, and they do not recognize their holding in the occupied territories of Ukraine.
Putin was first elected president in 2000 after the resignation of Russiaʼs first president, Boris Yeltsin. Since then, he has become an almost constant ruler of the state. In 2008, he was temporarily replaced by the current Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Dmytro Medvedev. In 2012, Putin regained the presidency.