World leaders congratulated President Donald Trump on his inauguration Monday, with many urging stronger alliances or continued cooperation between their countries and the United States, in carefully crafted social media posts and statements.

Trump’s return to the White House portends a seismic shakeup in international relations, with the new president immediately ordering the US’ withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement and World Health Organization, as world leaders brace for new tariffs on goods and the impact of Trump’s “America first” agenda.

Hungary is set to lose more than €1 billion in European Union cohesion funds, the result of an ongoing conflict with Brussels over the country’s alleged violations of the rule of law. The deadline for Hungary to meet the requirements and implement corrective measures passed yesterday, marking a pivotal moment in its relationship with the Union.

The European Commission on Wednesday said Hungary had lost its entitlement to European Union aid worth some €1 billion ($1.03 billion) due to rule of law breaches.

Previously, the EU pressured the country to change its laws in order to tackle conflicts of interest and corruption.

Budapest had been told it must make reforms by the end of 2024 or they would expire.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Saturday drew a direct link between immigration and an attack in Germany where a man drove into a Christmas market teeming with holiday shoppers, killing at least five people and injuring 200 others.

US President-elect Donald Trump is taking “a hard look” at a proposal for a Christmas truce and prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine put forward by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Trump’s nominee for national security adviser Mike Waltz has said.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s peace efforts are gaining momentum recently. After meeting with President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, on Monday, Orbán held a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday. The discussion focused on bilateral relations and the ongoing war in Ukraine.

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borell, has stripped Hungary of the right to host the next meeting of foreign and defence ministers over its stance on the war in Ukraine.

It comes weeks after Hungary assumed the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, a role in which it would normally host the event, and amid anger over a meeting Prime Minister Viktor Orban held with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow earlier this month.

As recent events have dramatically improved GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump’s chances for victory in November, European leaders who criticized him in the past have gone from fretting about a possible new Trump presidency to preparing for the former president’s return to the White House. 

With a few key exceptions – Viktor Orban in Hungary and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni come to mind – leaders in the European Union have stood solidly in support of Democratic President Joe Biden's administration.