According to press reports, Giorgia Meloni is in an endeavour to persuade Viktor Orbán to withdraw his veto on the €50 billion EU aid to Ukraine, offering a unique deal in return. Kyiv could soon face severe challenges or even collapse without substantial foreign financial assistance.
In recent weeks, the Western alliance behind Ukraine seems to have split: one side is beginning to acknowledge the realities and is pushing for peace talks, while the other side wants to keep pouring money and arms into Ukraine.
‘In the capital city in particular, Ukrainians signal in a variety of small ways their desire to belong to the West. Kyiv could compete with any European capital when it comes to the number of EU flags seen on the streets. At European Square, not far from Maidan, in the middle of a roundabout the four-pointed star of NATO stands atop a metal pillar surrounded by a circle of Ukrainian and EU flags.’
Talks with Ukraine on possible EU membership ‘right now are absurd, ridiculous, and unserious’, and the government will not support them. Right now no one knows what Ukraine’s accession would entail or how much territory or population would be integrated into the bloc, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in the debate of the ruling Fidesz party’s draft resolution on Ukraine’s accession talks.
Meloni emphasized her familiarity with the views of the Hungarian Prime Minister, which diverge from those she holds concerning Ukraine’s accession to the European Union. However, she noted that, in her opinion, the inflexibility and strictness of the European Commission have led to the Hungarian Prime Minister’s perspectives.
Famous American political pundit Tucker Carlson interviewed the father of Gonzalo Lira, a Chilean-American political commentator imprisoned in Ukraine for his opinion. The father told Carlson he believes the US State Department is complicit in the plight of his son. Elon Musk himself spoke up in support of Lira after the interview, which prompted Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) to respond as well.
Oleksii Arestovych, a former advisor to the Ukrainian president recently announced his candidacy for the Ukrainian presidency, the election for which is scheduled to happen in 2024—however, due to the martial law in force in the country, the elections might not be organized.
In a recent interview with POLITICO, Zelensky’s chief of staff Andrii Yermak stated that it is unacceptable that some of Europe’s leaders and citizens are fatigued by the conflict in Ukraine. It is no coincidence that war fatigue was mentioned, as Russian prank callers recently extracted a statement to that effect from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
At the discussion Russia expert David Satter expressed scepticism about Russia being trustworthy regarding keeping the terms of a potential ceasefire, while Attila Demkó argued that Ukraine has already secured a great victory against Russia: it has not become a puppet state of Moscow.
While Prime Minister Morawiecki stated at PiS’s last congress before the 15 October elections in Katowice that Polish voters would in less than two weeks decide whether Poland becomes a ‘European land, a European province,’ or remains a sovereign country, a large opposition rally was held in Warsaw.
In her remarks at the UN, the Hungarian President noted: ‘We know that peace can only become a real possibility when at least one party realized that the time for negotiations has come.’ She added: ‘We cannot decide on behalf of the Ukrainians how much sacrifice they are willing to make, but it is our duty to represent our nation’s desire for peace.’
In a radio interview, Minister István Nagy alleged that the European Commission was serving the interest of ‘US, Saudi, and Dutch companies and investors’ with their controversial decision, and not the small Ukrainian farmer’s as they claim.
In a radio interview, President Katalin Novák spoke about the upcoming Budapest International Demographic Summit and the importance of family-centric thinking, as well as the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war and her roles as Hungary’s Head of State.
‘The Maidan—‘the square’ as people refer to it—became a plaza of fallen heroes in 2014: pictures commemorating the 108 protestors killed by law enforcement during the Revolution of Dignity remind everyone that for Ukrainians the struggle for self-determination didn’t start in February 2022.’
The new ambassador to Hungary, Sándor Fegyir (in Ukrainian: Федір Федорович Шандор) was born in Ungvár (Uzhorod) into a Hungarian Ukrainian family in 1975. A sociologist and university professor, he volunteered to fight for his country when Ukraine was invaded by Russia, and he has been on the front ever since as the leader of the so-called ‘Tanscarpathian Dragons’ unit.
‘It makes me extremely embarrassed and sad as an American to see this envoy from the Biden administration coming here with bizarre sex politics, trying to push them on Hungarians for no reason that benefits American national security or the economy.’
The Ukrainian ombudsman informed Katalin Novák about the process of repatriating and rehabilitating children who were taken to Russia from the occupied territories. The Hungarian president reminded that Hungary is conducting its largest humanitarian action in history, with a particular focus on hosting Ukrainian children at various holiday resorts this summer.
It is quite clear that the Ukrainians would have never survived this long against the Russian aggression without the financial and military assistance of the US. Yet the Biden administration has thus far offered no strategic argument on behalf of the costs and risks, let alone what is the overall end objective of the war.
Orbán noted that according to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Joe Biden could put an end to the war, adding that he actually agrees with the Ukrainian President. ‘If the United States said they want peace, it would happen by tomorrow morning,’ the PM opined, stating that he cannot comprehend why the Americans do not want to do that, and there was no answer at the NATO summit to that question either.
‘Despite their injuries, the Hungarian soldiers have shown brave commitment, and many of those who were able to do so have already returned to their posts,’ the Hungarian defence minister said after the clashes between KFOR troops and local Serbs in North Kosovo. The minister stressed that the stability of the Western Balkans is very important to Hungary, which is why it is present in the region not only diplomatically and economically, but also militarily in the framework of the KFOR mission.
About a week after the Committee on Budgetary Control officially rejected her renomination, the European Parliament reversed that decision and voted in favour of another six-year term for Gáll-Pelcz on the European Court of Auditors. However, on the same day, the EP also passed a resolution condemning Hungary.
The Hungarian government has vetoed the 11th EU sanctions package against Russia after it was revealed that Volodymyr Zelenskyy allegedly urged the bombing of the Druzhba pipeline, a crucial route via which Russian oil is transferred to Hungary.
The European Peace Facility was posed to transfer €500 million to Ukraine for artillery round purchases, but the aid was blocked by the Hungarian government. The official explanation for the move is that Budapest would like to see the off-budget EU fund focus on more than just Ukraine, but some believe the blacklisting of OTP Bank may be behind it.
While talking to reporters on his flight from Budapest to Vatican City, Pope Francis revealed that the Vatican is engaged in a ‘peace mission’, which he has discussed with Prime Minister Orbán and Bishop Hilarion in Budapest. The Kyiv government has made it clear that it does not approve of such an effort.
Four Central European countries, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and Bulgaria, have announced bans on foodstuff imports coming from Ukraine. Meanwhile, Romania has joined them in demanding action from the EU to address these concerns. The five countries are estimated to have lost 417 million EUR combined due to cheap Ukrainian food imports.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg made a surprise visit to Kyiv, Ukraine to meet with President Zelenskyy, where he expressed his strong support for Ukraine’s accession to the military alliance. Viktor Orbán, who has been a vocal proponent of peace negotiations and is fully aware that such remarks are seen as a provocative move by Russia, took to Twitter to voice his strong dissent.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán emphasised that Budapest and Warsaw will join forces to protect the agricultural workers of Central Europe from the negative effects of ‘grain dumps’ coming from Ukraine.
The Prime Minister said that the rebuilding of Russian-European economic relations after the war would be desirable, but it is unlikely to happen any time soon.
Romania has joined Budapest in criticising some of Kyiv’s policies. Bucharest has raised ecological concerns over Ukraine’s plan to continue to dredge the Danube Delta to increase its volume of trade through the Bystroye Canal.
Worries grow about Moldova’s stability as the second wave of pro-Russian protests erupted in Chișinău and Wizz Air temporarily suspended its flights due to repeated violations of Moldova’s airspace by Russian missiles.
Hungarian Conservative is a quarterly magazine on contemporary political, philosophical and cultural issues from a conservative perspective.