{"id":9814,"date":"2022-08-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-15T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aspeninstitutece.softmedia.cz\/article\/2022\/hungarian-pro-moscow-course\/"},"modified":"2024-09-30T18:53:12","modified_gmt":"2024-09-30T16:53:12","slug":"hungarian-pro-moscow-course","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspeninstitutece.org\/cs\/article\/2022\/hungarian-pro-moscow-course\/","title":{"rendered":"A Hungarian Pro-Moscow Course?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eight hours \u2014 this is how long it took the Hungarian authorities to admit that Ukraine was a victim of Russia\u2019s aggression. This was done by Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n in a video published after 1 pm on Facebook after the equivocations of his foreign minister. \u201cThis morning Russia attacked Ukraine militarily,\u201d\u00b9<\/span>\u00a0the Prime Minister said and immediately outlined his government\u2019s position: \u201cHungary must stay out of the war conflict. For us, the safety of our citizens is the most important thing, so under no circumstances will we allow soldiers or military equipment to be sent to Ukraine through our territory. Of course we will offer humanitarian aid.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For Orb\u00e1n, the war came as a double shock. First, there is no indication that he knew it would happen. Like many observers, despite warnings from the US and British intelligence services, he was likely reluctant to believe that Putin would attempt a full-scale invasion. In early February, already after the tension between Russia and Western countries had escalated and more than 100,000 Russian troops were waiting on Ukraine\u2019s eastern and northern borders, he traveled to Moscow to talk with Putin about bilateral relations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Second, the war inevitably changed the dynamics of the campaign ahead of the parliamentary elections scheduled for April 3; elections that, due to six major opposition parties joining forces, a two-year-long coronavirus pandemic and run-away inflation, were assessed as the most difficult for Fidesz, Orb\u00e1n\u2019s nationalist party, since returning to power in 2010. In the heat of the campaign, Russia\u2019s aggression and the surprising resistance of Ukrainians meant for Orb\u00e1n that he had to face uncomfortable questions about his own relationship with Putin.<\/span><\/p>\n

East Winds<\/strong><\/h2>\n

At a press conference held four days after the election, Orb\u00e1n dated the sources of his opening to Russia to 2008: \u201c[At the Bucharest summit] it was decided that the West did not want the Ukrainians and the Georgians to join NATO. At that point, I understood that a brand new era was coming […] We launched a new Russia policy, at that time I reached out to President Putin, so around 2009. I understood that Russia was going to be part of the European security architecture with a new border being created separating the world of NATO from that of Russia, and in between there was going to be a system of buffer states: Georgia to the south, Ukraine to the east.\u201d<\/span>\u00b2<\/p>\n

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PM Orb\u00e1n said on the press conference that HU has adopted its Russia policy to the changing international environment and now \u2018a new era is about to begin\u2019. Watch the video below for PM Orb\u00e1n\u2019s thoughts on the past and the future of HU\u2019s Russia policy! pic.twitter.com\/lNm1C6wXQe<\/a><\/p>\n

— Bal\u00e1zs Orb\u00e1n (@BalazsOrban_HU) April 7, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n