While Sofia, Prague, Bratislava and Ankara seemed to be eager to send more aid to Ukraine and support the war-torn country in its NATO bid, the NATO summit in Vilnius must have been a disappointing ending to a promising start for Zelenskyy.
PM Orbán must have ‘run into’ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the meeting, as some Hungarian media put it. However, conspicuously, Viktor Orbán did not post any photos of him and the Ukrainian leader to social media, as opposed to prominently featured pictures with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki in a Facebook post. In fact, no formal meeting has been held between the two leaders since Zelenskyy entered office. Although Orbán has been invited to Kyiv, the Hungarian government has made it quite clear that the Hungarian PM will not be travelling to Ukraine unless the rights of the Hungarian minority in the country are restored.
Ukraine has proven to be quite willing to turn a blind eye to the transgressions of China for very pragmatic reasons. It seems practical stances in foreign policy are allowed after all, until some powerful figures in politics and media choose to stir up some selective outrage.
During the European Council summit on Thursday, EU leaders welcomed the Ukrainian president to Brussels, showing support for the West’s ally as Ukraine gets ready for an anticipated Russian offensive.
The Hungarian Prime Minister was put under scrutiny for not applauding the Ukrainian President—however, he was not the only one, as some Western journalists and politicians have claimed.
At talks in Budapest with Ukraine’s Deputy PM Taras Kachka, Hungarian FM Péter Szijjártó placed full blame on Kyiv for deteriorating relations, citing curtailed minority rights and strikes on the Druzhba pipeline. He declared Hungary opposes Ukraine’s EU accession, offering only a strategic partnership as a realistic path.
Polish authorities say drones allegedly tied to Russia entered their airspace during strikes on Ukraine, prompting NATO talks. The timing is notable: days earlier, former president Andrzej Duda revealed Kyiv had pushed Poland to pin the 2022 Przewodów strike on Moscow. Hungary’s Orbán pledged solidarity but highlighted the need for peace, not escalation.
Hungary’s relations with Ukraine are at a historic low, but Budapest remains open to dialogue, Péter Szijjártó said on Monday. Blaming Kyiv for curtailing Transcarpathian Hungarian rights, he announced that Ukrainian FM Andrii Sybiha will visit Budapest this week despite recent tensions over the Druzhba pipeline and Ukraine’s EU accession.
Poland’s former president Andrzej Duda says Ukraine attempted to manipulate Warsaw into blaming Russia for the 2022 Przewodów missile strike. Duda argued that Zelenskyy’s insistence was meant to pull Poland into war—a claim that now casts other incidents in a new light.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, fresh from nearly an hour-long private meeting with Vladimir Putin in Beijing, announced he will deliver a ‘very serious message’ to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday. Fico’s role echoes Viktor Orbán’s earlier peace missions, though the Slovak leader emerges at a moment when Putin insists no peace is possible without addressing NATO expansion.