Orban: Russia's attack on Ukraine is not a war
In October, Viktor Orban met with Vladimir Putin in Beijing, then Hungary's head of government blocked further aid for Ukraine in Brussels. Now he is denying that the Russian attack on the neighboring country is a war. It is an "operation", explains Orban.
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban has questioned the warlike nature of the Russian attack on Ukraine and backed Russia's President Vladimir Putin with his choice of words. "This is an operation as long as there is no declaration of war between the two countries," said the right-wing populist politician at his annual press conference in Budapest.
He was responding to the question of why he had recently avoided using the term "war" in talks with Putin. Some people would describe the events as a "war". "But we Hungarians don't dictate to anyone what words they should use to talk about it," Orban emphasized. "We are glad that it is not a war." On the other hand, he said that Ukraine was at war. Orban, who has long maintained good relations with Putin, met the Kremlin leader in Beijing in October.
Orban was ambiguous about the dispute with Brussels over the 21 billion euros in EU funding for Hungary, which continues to be frozen due to concerns about the rule of law. On the one hand, he rejected the accusation that he wanted to link this issue with the EU's plans for further Ukraine aid amounting to 50 billion euros. On the other hand, he emphasized that he was strictly against including this sum in the EU's seven-year budget.
Orban claimed that there was a risk that there would be nothing left to pay out the currently blocked sums for Hungary, although this was not true. In principle, however, he is in favor of financial support for Ukraine, as Budapest is also interested in Ukraine's existence as a buffer state between Hungary and Russia.
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- Despite Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban meeting with Vladimir Putin in Beijing and blocking further aid for Ukraine in Brussels, he has now downplayed the Russian attack on Ukraine as an "operation," not a war.
- Hungary's stance on the Ukraine conflict echoes that of Russia's President Vladimir Putin, as Orban has chosen to use similar language, referring to the attack as an "operation" instead of a war.
- Following the Russian attack on Ukraine, Hungary's relations with Ukraine remain a delicate issue. While Orban supports Ukraine's existence as a buffer state between Hungary and Russia, he has been critical of EU plans for further aid to Ukraine, stating that he is against including this sum in the EU's seven-year budget.
Source: www.ntv.de
