Conservative champion, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has been in the spotlight, at the receiving end of widespread criticism over his stance against Ukraine’s ascension to the European Union, as well as his blocking of further financial aid to Kiev.
Broadly speaking, Orbán doesn’t think Ukraine – who banned opposition parties and censored the media – is anywhere near ready to initiate membership talks.
Read: Hungary’s Orbán Calls the European Union a ‘Bad Contemporary Parody’ of the Soviet Union
There are also questions of infringement of rights for the Hungarian minorities in Ukraine, as well as Hungarian banks and companies hit by sanctions.
But if you read the MSM, you will think it’s all about the Hungarian leader ‘being Putin’s ally’ or else ‘blackmailing the EU to receive blocked funds’.
Earlier this month, Ukrainian Zelensky flew to Javier Milei’s inauguration in Argentina, had an impromptu meeting with Orbán, and opened a personal line of dialogue with him that now appears to be developing into a bilateral meeting.
Reuters reported:
“Ukraine and Hungary are preparing a meeting of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Prime Minister Viktor Orban in the near future, the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff said on Thursday, amid recent steps by Hungary that have soured ties.”
In the latest EY summit, in early December, all EU states except Hungary agreed to start accession talks with Ukraine. Orbán agreed to leave the room when the decision was made.
But he blocked 50 billion Euros to Kiev, saying funds for Ukraine ‘must come from outside the EU budget’.
“Chief of Staff Andrei Yermak made his remarks following a ‘productive phone call’ with Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto.
‘We are working to organize a meeting between the two leaders in the near future’, Yermak said on the X social media platform.
He added Ukraine’s progress on the path of European integration was also discussed.”
Zelensky and Orbán talk during Javier Milei’s inauguration in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
ABC News reported:
Speaking at an annual international news conference in Budapest […], Orbán said he agreed to Zelensky’s proposal for a future meeting during a brief conversation between the two leaders on the sidelines of a Dec. 10 swearing-in ceremony for Argentina’s new president, Javier Milei.
“(Zelensky) said, ‘We should negotiate,’ and I told him I’d be at his disposal. We just have to clarify one question: about what?” Orbán said, adding that the Ukrainian leader requested a discussion on his country’s ambitions to join the European Union.
[…] He said the financing should not come from modifications to the EU budget but be based on individual contributions from member countries, and that plans to provide Ukraine with money over the next several years should be limited to more short-term assistance.
“The Hungarian perspective is that if we want to give money to Ukraine, then we shouldn’t give it for a five-year period because we have no idea what will happen in the next three months,” he said.
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