Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban presents himself as the European Union’s leading voice for nationalism and sovereignty. Orban’s anti-immigration and pro-family policies certainly support his argument here, bucking as they do the majority EU executive view that national sovereignty should come second to EU priorities. And the EU election results on Sunday prove that Orban’s domestic approach is the ascendant one. It was a mix of right-populist and far-right parties that secured major gains on Sunday. What began with the 2016 Brexit vote is now expanding: More voters want more control over their borders and greater independence from the EU political center.

Still, Orban’s nationalist sovereignty narrative has the form of jelly regarding his foreign policy. Orban has long put the Chinese Communist Party’s interests before those of Hungary’s national security (something Orban hopes former President Donald Trump won’t notice and too many American conservatives choose to ignore), even welcoming Chinese espionage tools into his society. But Orban’s selective interest in sovereignty is also clear in his approach toward Russia. Orban emphasized as much on Monday, pledging to advance Russian President Vladimir Putin’s interests in Ukraine. As Orban put it on X, “Europe’s political landscape has shifted to the right and towards peace. We will build on these results in the coming months to achieve our goals, as Hungary takes over the Presidency of the EU.”