In Berehove, a small town in western Ukraine, budapest is not just a capital city nearby; it is part of daily life, family memory, and political argument. On one side of the town’s conversations is the hope that Viktor Orbán will be voted out in Hungary’s parliamentary election. On the other is a quieter loyalty to the man many ethnic Hungarians there say has defended them when others did not.
That split is visible outside the Hungarian consulate, where residents gather to collect documents and prepare to vote. Hungarian is heard as often as Ukrainian in the town of about 30, 000. Schooling, television, passports, and language rights all pull the community toward the country across the border. The election in budapest is being watched here not as a distant contest, but as a decision that could shape how people understand themselves.
Why does Budapest matter so much in Berehove?
For many residents, the answer is simple: identity. László, who asked that his surname be withheld, said Orbán “cares about Hungarians everywhere. ” Speaking outside the Hungarian consulate, he said he was unhappy with the deteriorating relationship between Hungary and Ukraine, but praised Orbán for passports, financial assistance, and support for language rights.
That support has real weight in Berehove, where many residents hold a second Hungarian passport, even though it is technically illegal in Ukraine. Hungary has also set up several voting stations at consulates in the region, reinforcing the sense that the town’s political life is connected to budapest in practical ways as well as emotional ones.
The picture, however, is far from uniform. Some residents are rooting for Orbán’s Fidesz party. Others see a leader who has turned their community into a political tool. The town’s divisions reflect a deeper tension: whether cross-border protection looks like solidarity or manipulation depends on where you stand, and what you fear losing.
How has Ukraine become central to Orbán’s campaign?
In Hungary, Ukraine has been placed at the center of Orbán’s campaign as the country moves toward a pivotal election. He has repeatedly blamed Kyiv instead of focusing on domestic problems, while his opponents present a different story: bread-and-butter concerns, including failing healthcare and education systems and a stagnating economy.
One economist, Eva Palocz, director of the independent economic research institute Kopint-Tarki, said the Hungarian economy is “in bad shape, ” with no growth for three years and a high deficit. Those pressures sit alongside the effect of partially frozen EU funds over rule-of-law and corruption concerns. Yet Orbán has continued to frame Ukraine as the main source of Hungary’s troubles.
That strategy has consequences beyond the campaign trail. Hungary continues to block a €90bn EU financial package for Ukraine, delaying funding needed for Kyiv’s war effort. Orbán’s government has also used the situation of ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine to hinder Kyiv’s long-standing bid to join the EU. In that context, budapest becomes more than a city name; it becomes the center of a political posture that reaches into Ukrainian life.
What do experts say about the wider pattern?
András Rácz, a senior research fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations, said Hungarian voters are sensitive to the issue of ethnic Hungarians living beyond the country’s borders. He said Orbán’s rhetoric made the situation appear much worse and turned domestic Hungarians against Ukraine.
That argument helps explain why the borderland dispute has become so combustible. Orbán has long portrayed himself as a defender of ethnic Hungarians abroad, claiming they face discrimination and pressure to assimilate into Ukrainian society. Critics in Hungary and within Ukraine say he has exaggerated, and at times distorted, those grievances to justify a hostile stance toward Kyiv and its western allies.
Berehove residents who voice concern about Ukrainian language policies point in a different direction. One law that would phase out minority languages in schools was suspended in 2023, but the debate around it still shapes how people here talk about belonging, rights, and the future.
What comes next for the people caught in the middle?
The election outcome in Hungary will not settle the identity questions in Berehove, but it may sharpen them. For residents who rely on cross-border ties, the vote is personal. For Ukraine, the stakes are larger: financial support, European integration, and the political meaning of ethnic minority rights.
As the voting day approaches, the small town remains divided between gratitude and suspicion, between a state that claims to protect its people and a neighbor that sees that protection as pressure. Outside the consulate, where documents are handed over and ballots are prepared, the hope is that life will remain manageable. The harder question is whether budapest can stay close without deepening the divide.
