Hungary – In the latest of his usual Sunday video talks that are broadcast on his social media networks, Péter Márki-Zay, the Hungarian United Opposition’s candidate for prime minister, had some harsh words for the incumbent PM, Viktor Orbán.
“Viktor Orbán has betrayed NATO”
According to him, “this war would not have broken out if the Hungarian Prime Minister had not opposed the rapprochement between NATO and Ukraine.” Márki-Zay claims that Hungary has betrayed NATO by vetoing cybersecurity assistance and preventing support for Ukraine and its development.
He further explained that Hungary was the only NATO country to “make concessions to Putin” and to have “not taken into account its own national security by refusing to host additional NATO troops”.
The opposition candidate added that “Orbán is a traitor to the fatherland” and “the Hungarian pro-government media is the only one in Europe to repeat Russian lies without restraint”.
There were fierce reactions in the pro-government media following Márki-Zay’s statements, and the most heated ones concerned his statement that
“Viktor Orbán is personally responsible for this war and for the fact that people are dying.”
Hungary going with the trend in a cautious way
Although Hungary has supported all the sanctions on Russia decided at the EU level, its usual stance towards Moscow differ from that of most Central and Eastern European countries. Péter Márki-Zay deplored this fact in his Sunday speech, mentioning that “unlike the Romanians and the Balts, Hungary will not host additional NATO troops on its soil.”
Also on Sunday, in an interview given to the public television channel M1, the Hungarian PM said that Hungary would not send weapons or soldiers to Ukraine, because “Hungary does not have weapons that it doesn’t already need for the defence of its own border” and that “even if Hungary wanted to, it could not send weapons”.
The Hungarian Prime Minister reiterated Hungary’s full support in helping Ukrainian refugees:
“Poor Ukrainians, where can they go? We are their neighbours. People fleeing from war must be helped, and Ukrainian refugees can be assured that we will welcome them as friends.
However, to this Péter Márki-Zay said, “Viktor Orbán has dismantled the capacity to help refugees.”
