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.

Who is Lajos Ódor, Slovakia’s first ethnically Hungarian Prime Minister? Read our in-depth analysis of his background and how he came to power during the political crisis of his country.

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.

Experts fear that the government are making it difficult to claim these parcels on purpose; and that the former land confiscations by Slovak authorities have effects that still linger.

Ahead of the early elections in Slovakia, Hungarian minority parties are negotiating to create an election alliance, in order to maximise the chance of an ethnic Hungarian party being present again in the Bratislava parliament.

From the time of the regime change to the present day, the solid community of Hungarians living in Romania has regularly requested, and is requesting, unfortunately so far without success, the right to autonomy, which should normally be enjoyed by all communities that claim it within the European Union.

Russia’s military presence in Crimea is a major element in Moscow’s efforts to project power in the Black Sea region and beyond, and the annexation of the peninsula has given it a strategically valuable foothold in the area.

Péter Szijjártó expressed hope that members of the European and transatlantic community would adopt the Hungarian stance, adding that currently, on this hemisphere, war rhetoric is much louder and stronger than peace rhetoric.

The Ukrainian President extended an invitation to Viktor Orbán. While the relationship of the two countries is strained, Orbán said that he is open to the idea of visiting Ukraine.

Hungarian President Katalin Novák urged peace talks between Russia and Ukraine during her visit to Rome earlier this week.

In a January article published in the Transcarpathian paper Magyar Szó, Ungvár (Uzhorod) Consul László Kuti spoke about 12 Hungarian soldiers having fallen—the Hungarian Foreign Ministry provides financial aid to the families of all Hungarian victims of the war. However, estimates have put the number closer to 100 recently.