A nation long regarded as Moscow's most dependable ally within the European Union has, in the span of a single electoral season, become its newest adversary. Hungary's new government expelled ten Russian diplomats from Budapest in September 2026, citing threats to sovereignty that the previous administration had quietly tolerated for years. The move reflects how swiftly political change can reorient a country's place in the world — and how fragile the architecture of alignment truly is when it rests on the convictions of one leader rather than the will of a people.