Hungarian PM in Ukraine

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS - In Brief 02 Jul 2024 by Alex Teddy
On July 2 Viktor Orban came to Kyiv and met Zelensky. Ukraine really needs to win Orban over. Of all the EU leaders he is the most skeptical about Western aid to Ukraine. This is Orban's first visit to Ukraine. He once blocked a EUR 50 billion aid package to Ukraine for months. He has also been openly negative about the idea that Ukraine be allowed to join the EU. In the end he did not veto candidate status for Ukraine. Hungary is a neighbor of Ukraine. Hungary is also a NATO member. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian fled to Hungary in 2022. But only tens of thousands remain. Most of them moved further west, sensing they were not very welcome in Hungary. There is an indigenous minority of 100,000 Hungarians living in Ukraine. Hungary is anxious about their language rights. To preserve its unique identity Ukraine passed a law to make Ukrainian the sole state language. This was because Russian had had co-official status. Hungary disliked  the Hungarian language being downgraded in the Hungarian speaking district of Ukraine. Ukraine is keen to address these concerns. Orban met Putin in China in 2023. He is the only EU leader to have met Putin since the Ukraine War. Orban said Ukraine needs to consider how to make peace. Hungary is against sanctions on Russia. It has not vetoed them because Hungary has been granted exemptions. Hungary is reliant on Russian oil and gas. This has led to other EU member states such as Slovakia asking why they should pay the economic price of sanctions when Hungary does not. On July 1 Hungary assumed the presidency of the EU. This is taken in turn by each EU member state and the term is 6 months. Therefore, Hungary sets the agenda for the EU ...

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