Hungary’s Orban Sticks to Russian Ties With New Cabinet Picks

  • Defense pick tied to Russian business, foreign minister stays
  • EU commissioner put in charge of funds from the bloc

Viktor Orban

Photographer: Geert Vanden Wijngaert/Bloomberg
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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban appeared to quash the prospect pivoting away from Moscow following his landslide election victory last month by naming two allies with ties to Russia to top posts in his next government.

Orban, who nurtured close relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin before he attacked Ukraine, reappointed Peter Szijjarto as foreign minister and tapped entrepreneur Kristof Szalay-Bobrovniczky as defense minister, the government said on Facebook on Friday.