Anastasia Gorbacheva17:02, 21.12.23

Viktor Orban stated that Russia did not declare war on Ukraine.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán doubted that Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which resulted in hundreds of thousands of victims, should be called a “war”.

“This is a military operation,” Bloomberg quoted  Orbán as saying. “There was no declaration of war between the two countries. When Russia declares war, then there will be war.”

Orbán met Putin in Beijing in October, becoming the first EU leader to do so since an international arrest warrant was issued for the Russian president for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

In a meeting with Putin, he called the Russian invasion a “military operation”, although he told reporters in Budapest on Thursday that he was ready to use the word “war”, including in a conversation with the Russian president during their next meeting.

“We should be happy that war has not been declared, because then a general mobilization will begin in Russia,” Orban said. “I don’t wish this on anyone.”

Orban’s position in the EU – what Budapest angered Brussels

Hungary has angered its European Union and NATO allies by maintaining close ties with Russia and trying to undermine support for Ukraine, including by calling for the lifting of economic sanctions against Moscow.

In addition, Orbán blocked a €50 billion EU bailout package for Ukraine, becoming the only one of the 27 EU government leaders to do so.

(C)UNIAN 2023