Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated on Monday, September 29, that Hungary poses no threat to Ukraine. He spoke after Kyiv made unsubstantiated claims that UAVs had crossed from Hungary into Transcarpathia. The Hungarian premier used a Friday, September 29 social media podcast to state
Ukraine is not at war with Hungary but with Russia. So it should be concerned with the drones on its eastern border because there are NATO member states here, Ukraine’s hinterland is secure. No-one is going to attack it from there.
But let’s say it had flown in a few metres. So what? Ukraine is not an independent country. Ukraine is not a sovereign country.
“We are keeping Ukraine afloat. The West keeps it afloat. We are giving them their weapons … Ukraine should not behave as if it were a sovereign state,” the PM quipped.
Ukraine applied to join the European Union shortly after the conflict began in 2022 but Hungary has vetoed accelerated membership, arguing that Ukraine has not fulfilled the EU accession criteria and would further damage the European economy.
Budapest also warns that Ukraine joining while at war would endanger security and could draw EU member states into direct conflict with Russia. Ukrainian officials dismiss these concerns as unfounded.
