Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban spoke against Ukraine’s NATO membership during a plenary meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Alliance’s Washington Summit, Bloomberg reported on July 13.
Orban refused to back military support for Ukraine during the summit on July 11 and suggested that Kyiv should not join the alliance, according to Bloomberg’s sources. The comment sparked backlash from other leaders.
Budapest has repeatedly opposed Ukraine's accession to NATO and the EU, sanctions on Russia, undermined Western aid efforts for Ukraine, and maintained close relations with Moscow throughout the full-scale war.
Orban met Zelensky in Kyiv at the start of July after taking over the rotating presidency on July 1. He urged the Ukrainian president to consider a ceasefire to "speed up peace talks.”
The talks were billed as an important step toward solving long-standing problems between the two leaders. But Zelensky dismissed the proposal and stuck to Kyiv’s own peace plan.
Orban angered many in the EU after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 5 to discuss the invasion of Ukraine. He said that Ukraine and Russia's stances on the war and prospects for peace are "very far apart."
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said the trip was "an insult to the Ukrainian people’s fight for their freedom.
The EU has distanced itself from Orban's venture, saying he does not represent the European bloc despite Hungary's presidency of the Council of the EU.
The Hungarian leader then visited China and met with former U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida on July 12. After the meeting, he wrote on X that Trump will “solve” the war.
Orban’s ‘peace missions’ have caused outrage in the EU, undisclosed European diplomats told the media following a meeting in Brussels on July 10. While no decision was taken on how to prevent such ventures in the future, "there will be follow-ups," said Rikard Jozwiak, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Brussels correspondent.
Nate Ostiller
