Brussels (Belgium) (AFP) - Incoming Hungarian leader Peter Magyar met EU chiefs Wednesday on his first visit to Brussels since his election win, looking to turn the page on the bad blood of nationalist Viktor Orban’s tenure.

European Union leaders feted his victory this month, which ended Kremlin-friendly Orban’s 16 years in power, and before even taking office Magyar has sought to kickstart a new era of cooperation with Brussels that he hopes will unlock billions of euros for Budapest.

Magyar said in a video posted online that he was “very optimistic and hopeful” ahead of talks with European Commission boss Ursula von der Leyen. He hoped to agree a deal by late May on how to free up some 10 billion euros in frozen Covid recovery funds, he added.

While the 45-year-old will only become prime minister next month, his team has already held two rounds of negotiations with high-ranking EU officials as they look to bring black sheep Budapest back into the fold.

“The talks are going very well so far, and there is a noticeable sense of constructiveness on the part of both the European institutions and the member states,” Magyar said. “Political decisions” were now needed, he added.

Magyar is desperate to show that his promise to reset ties can bring quick benefits. He wants to convince Brussels to release around 18 billion euros ($21 billion) in funding frozen over rule-of-law concerns under Orban.

The clock is ticking: the incoming government has until the end of August to start pushing through reforms to try to secure the 10 billion euros left over from Covid recovery funds, or lose them for good.

- Hungary ‘rejoining’ EU -

EU officials hope Magyar will be able to move fast after securing a super-majority in parliament that will make it easier to ram through laws.

The speed with which Magyar has engaged after the blockages and bickering of the Orban era has buoyed expectations in Brussels.

“We’ve never seen such a level of commitment from a government that isn’t even in office yet,” EU lawmaker Daniel Freund, a fierce Orban critic, told AFP.

“It’s practically as if Hungary is rejoining the European Union.”

Officials say another way for Brussels to give Magyar an early win could be to wave through a separate 16 billion euros in preferential defence loans that were held up as the standoff with Orban worsened ahead of the Hungarian polls.

But some caution that it will be concrete actions rather than warm words alone that prove genuine change is happening in Budapest.

“So far, wait and see,” one EU diplomat said, on condition of anonymity. “But that might change, considering all the good things he says and does.”

- ‘New chapter’ with Ukraine? -

While Brussels is hammering out the reforms it wants with Magyar, leaders are also pushing for a new approach on Ukraine after Orban stalled a raft of EU support for the country as it fights Russia’s invasion.

The incoming Hungarian premier sounded a positive note Tuesday by saying he aimed to meet Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in June to “open a new chapter”.

Even before Magyar takes power, Orban’s defeat has already helped unblock some of the major points of contention.

The 27-nation bloc last week approved a mammoth loan for Ukraine and a new package of sanctions on Russia that Hungary had been stalling for months.

Hungary’s European counterparts now want to see Magyar free up EU funds used to arm Ukraine that have been stalled for years. They expect him to lift Orban’s veto preventing Kyiv from moving to the next step in its bid to join the bloc.

Officials insist that Ukraine deserves to move ahead in the painstaking process, although there is little appetite among major EU powers to rush Kyiv towards full membership anytime soon.

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