Orban claims Hungary will support Ukraine only if minority rights are restored.
The rights of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine must be restored before Budapest supports Kyiv in international affairs, Prime Minister Viktor Orban claimed in a speech to Hungary's parliament on Sept.
25. "We do not support Ukraine in any issue in the international scene until it restores the laws that guarantee the rights of Hungarians," the prime minister claimed. Ukraine wants "to transform (Hungarian schools) into Ukrainian schools," Orban said, referring to a law passed in 2017 that made Ukrainian the required language of instruction for children in state secondary education.
Budapest has repeatedly accused Kyiv of oppressing the rights of Hungarian minorities that live in the western regions of Ukraine, near the border between the two countries. The 2001 Ukrainian census reported that around 150,000 Hungarians lived in Ukraine, though today this number is thought to be no higher than 80,000. On Sept.
21, Ukraine's parliament approved amendments to the law on national minorities to bring the rules and definitions in line with EU standards.
Parliament approves changes to national minorities law The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, approved amendments to the law on national minorities, which is one of the requirements for the country's accession to the EU, lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak said on Sept.
21.
Orban also addressed NATO enlargement, saying that there was no urgency to approve Sweden's NATO bid. As a member of the alliance, Hungary has the power to veto the membership of new countries.
He also claimed that "we have seen that if Ukraine does not give up its intention to join NATO, it is only a matter of time before we have to reckon with another conflict." Brussels "wants us to join the war," he alleged, whereas "Hungary is doing everything for peace." Hungary has a history of opposing international sanctions against Russia while blocking funding for Ukraine.
On Sept.
15, the Hungarian government implemented a ban on 24 Ukrainian agricultural products after the European Commission decided to end the Ukrainian grain embargo. In response, Ukraine said it will sue Hungary, along with Poland and Slovakia, over the import ban. Over the last six months, Orban has called Ukraine a "financially non-existent" country, claimed Ukraine will never win the war, and repeated a Russian propaganda narrative that the West is using Ukrainian troops as proxies.
In November 2022, Orban was photographed at a football match wearing a scarf depicting a historical map of Hungary that included Ukrainian territories, leading Ukraine to summon the Hungarian ambassador. In January 2023, Ukraine again summoned the Hungarian ambassador after Orban compared Ukraine to Afghanistan, calling it a no man's land.
Exclusive: New insights point to Hungary's collaboration with Moscow on transfer of Ukrainian POWs In early June, a bizarre and mysterious joint operation was carried out between two of Ukraine's neighbors, one to the east and one to the west.
Eleven Ukrainian soldiers, after having been held in Russian captivity for an unknown amount of time, were moved from Russia to Hungary.
Although
