The Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, today questioned the interpretation of the Russian attack on Ukraine as a war, calling it an “operation”, reported DPA, quoted by BTA.
The agency notes that Orbán thus repeated the rhetoric used by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“This is an operation insofar as there is no declaration of war between two countries,” the Hungarian prime minister, a right-wing populist, said at his annual press conference in Budapest. That’s how he answered a question about why he recently avoided the term “war” in his talks with Putin.
“Some people would characterize the events as ‘war’. We Hungarians do not dictate to anyone what words to use when talking about it,” Orbán emphasized. “We are glad that this is not a war,” he added.
On the other hand, the Hungarian Prime Minister stated that Ukraine is at war, DPA notes.
Orban, who has long maintained good relations with Putin, met the Russian president during the Belt and Road Forum in the Chinese capital, Beijing, in October.
DPA also draws attention to the fact that at his press conference today, the Hungarian Prime Minister made ambiguous comments in connection with his dispute with Brussels over the 21 billion euros frozen by the EU from the European funds for his country.
On the one hand, Orbán rejected accusations that he was trying to link the issue to the EU’s plan for new aid to Ukraine amounting to 50 billion euros. On the other hand, he emphasized that he is firmly against the amount in question for Kyiv being part of the EU budget for seven years.
Orban says there will be nothing left to pay the currently blocked funds to Hungary.
However, this statement of his is not true, DPA notes.
However, Orban is fundamentally in favor of financial support for Kyiv, as Budapest has an interest in Ukraine existing as a buffer state between Hungary and Russia, the agency points out.
2023-12-21 18:28:00
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