Peter has a dream, and it is Austria-Hungary

''We once shared a single state, and Austria is a key economic partner of Hungary. I would like to strengthen relations between Hungary and Austria for historical, as well as cultural and economic reasons,'' said the leader of Tisza.

Although a major focus of his campaign included announcements that he would restore relations with the EU, he particularly sees this within the framework of a strengthened bloc of Central European countries, Politico reports.

As a clear signal of his vision, Magyar announced that his first trips as Hungary’s new leader at the beginning of May would be to Warsaw and Vienna.

Although he sees Austria as a more natural ally, he believes Hungary can learn a lot from Poland about how to restore liberal democracy and how to unblock frozen EU funds due to rule-of-law issues.

Namely, one of his priorities is unlocking €18 billion in frozen EU funds.

‘The visit to Warsaw is about exchanging experiences on the transition back to liberal democracy. The visit to Vienna is more related to European politics and the need to develop our own proposals from this region,’ said Emil Brix, a former Austrian diplomat and historian, for Politico.

Magyar and Austrian Chancellor Christopher Stocker had already begun ‘laying the groundwork’ in February for relations after Viktor Orbán, according to two officials present at the meeting.

The two countries are already deeply economically connected. Austria is the second-largest investor in Hungary after Germany, and around 134,000 Hungarians work in Austria.

However, there are key differences among Central European countries, for example regarding Ukraine.

Austria and Poland actively support additional EU aid to that country, while Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia are more reserved.

Despite these differences, there are still strong shared interests among Central European countries, especially when it comes to economic initiatives and major infrastructure projects.

‘If these countries could present integrated proposals and coordinated projects, it would strengthen their position in the allocation of funds and cohesion resources from Brussels,’ said Reinhard Heinisch, a political scientist at the University of Salzburg.