Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who was targeted by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in a letter to European Union leaders, on Friday, rejected “demands” to hand over weapons to Kyiv and tighten sanctions once morest Russia, considering them “contrary to his country’s interests”.
Government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs quoted Orban as saying: “Hungary wants to stay out of this war and will not allow arms transfers to Ukraine.”
Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Budapest, despite receiving refugees, has refused to send military aid and has banned arms transfers through its territory.
“Listen, Victor, do you know what is happening in Mariupol?” Zelensky said, addressing Orban, who has been close to the Kremlin in recent years.
“You have to decide once and for all in which camp you are,” he added in a video call broadcast, Thursday evening, during the 27th summit in Brussels.
The Ukrainian president also called on Hungary, which depends heavily on Russian energy resources, to stop trade with Moscow.
“Turning off the oil and gas taps would be tantamount to making Hungarian families pay for the war,” the spokesman responded.
“We can’t stand it,” he added, as Orban prepares for a hot April 3 election.
According to opposition leader Peter Marky Zay, Zelensky’s speech shows the “isolation” of Orbán, who is seen as “(Vladimir) Putin’s last ally in the EU and NATO”.
Earlier this week, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, Irina Vereshuk, accused Hungary of “secretly dreaming” of annexing Transcarpathia, the region in western Ukraine where a large Hungarian-speaking community lives.
This region, which is geographically isolated from the rest of the country, was under the control of Budapest until the First World War. It joined Ukraine, which gained independence in 1991.
The Hungarian embassy in Kyiv denounced what it considered “unfounded accusations and slander”.
