Hungary's stance on Ukraine remains unchanged

Hungary will not adjust its foreign policy course over the situation in Ukraine, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said at a press conference on June 26, following talks with his Polish, Slovak and Czech counterparts.

“Hungary is seeking foreign policy cooperation with the European Union (EU), but we have a sovereign foreign policy. And we will not deviate from the path we have followed since the war in Ukraine began, and we will seek peace . Our efforts will be directed towards achieving that,” Orban stressed.

Earlier, at the summit of the Visegrad Group (V4) Prime Ministers in the Slovakian capital Bratislava, Mr. Orban criticized the EU for failing in its policy towards the Western Balkans, calling it a mistake for the EU to prioritize Ukraine over the Balkan countries.

“It is unacceptable for the residents of this region to see Ukraine getting closer and even joining (the EU) ahead of their countries, which have been trying for years,” Mr Orban said, referring to granting Ukraine EU candidate country status in June 2022.

The EU opened accession talks with Serbia and Montenegro 10 years ago, with Albania and Macedonia in 2022, while Kosovo applied to join the EU in December 2022.

“We cannot close our ears and only look at Ukraine. We must also be aware of the Balkan countries,” said Mr Orban, who is considered Russia’s closest ally in the EU.

World - Hungary's stance on Ukraine remains unchanged — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the Visegrad Group (V4) Prime Ministers' Summit in the Slovakian capital Bratislava, June 26, 2023. Photo: EFE

As a member of NATO and the EU, Hungary has often not toed the Western line when it comes to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Since the conflict erupted last February, Hungary – under the continuous rule of Prime Minister Orban for more than a decade – has refused to provide military aid to Ukraine, has not allowed the transit of weapons through Hungarian territory into Ukraine, and has blocked some of Brussels’ efforts to provide financial aid packages to Kiev.

Budapest also maintains friendly relations with Moscow and opposed EU sanctions against Russia, but ultimately voted to pass them anyway. As a result, the EU has now passed 11 rounds of sanctions targeting various aspects of the Russian economy.

But the bloc is still deadlocked in approving the latest military aid package for Ukraine, worth 500 million euros, from the European Peace Fund (EPF), due to a veto by Budapest.

Hungary announced that the condition for its “green light” on the aid package that Ukraine desperately needs in its counterattack against Russia is: Removing Hungary’s largest commercial bank OTP from the list of “international war sponsors” – a “black list” drafted by Ukraine targeting foreign companies still doing business in the Russian market .

Minh Duc (According to TASS, La Prensa Latina, Euronews)

Source