Russian approach to war
Orban acknowledges Hungary’s isolation in Western alliances
07/01/2022 2:31 PM
NATO and the EU are largely in agreement on how to deal with Russia’s aggression – only Hungary occasionally oversteps the bounds. Prime Minister Orban has to admit that. However, that did not change his stance on the war in Ukraine.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has acknowledged that his country is isolated in the Western alliance with its stance on Russia’s war against Ukraine. “We don’t need sanctions (against Russia), but an immediate ceasefire and immediate peace talks,” the right-wing politician said on state radio. However, apart from Hungary, no one else in NATO and the EU has taken this position, he added. “For now no one but us will strike this note.”
“Everyone is on the side of the Ukrainians, because people are on the side of the attacked and cross their fingers for the attacked,” Orban continued. But at the same time one has to face “military realities”. Russia’s hegemony means “the war zone is moving to Hungary much faster than most Hungarians think.”
Hungary, a member of NATO since 1999 and the European Union since 2004, borders Ukraine to the northeast. The current battle theaters are 1,000 kilometers from the Hungarian-Ukrainian border. Orban, who maintains a good relationship with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, initially only half-heartedly condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine. When the EU’s most recent sanctions were imposed, he used his veto threat to ensure that Russian oil supplies to Hungary were exempted from the EU’s oil supply boycott.
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