Ukraine Issues Effective Death Threat Against Orbán

The Ukrainians are growing more confident with their attacks on—or, better put, their threats against—the Hungarian government, which is no surprise given the lack of care shown by their European funders.

Perhaps if Brussels had responded differently to Volodymyr Zelensky’s suggestioned that Ukrainian soldiers could “call and speak” to those blocking a €90 billion EU loan—that is, essentially, Viktor Orbán—than by awarding him the so-called ‘European Order of Merit,’ the tone might have shifted.

But, for the most part, they stayed silent. And now, a retired politician and former officer of the Security Services of Ukraine has said in a television interview that a covert military organisation could easily target the Hungarian prime minister unless he changes his Ukraine stance.

Hrihoriy Omelchenko left little to the imagination when saying that “our organisation, called KARMA, does not need Orbán’s address.”

We know where he lives, where he spends the night, where he drinks beer and wine, where he goes out, whom he meets, and so on. Therefore, if Orbán does not change his anti-Ukrainian stance … he should remember that KARMA never forgives anyone’s crimes.

Perhaps most hideously, Omelchenko added that Orbán “should think about his five children and six grandchildren.”

Balázs Orbán, who is political director of the prime minister, issued a strong rebuke against this “outrageous threat,” saying “it’s time Ukraine understood: threats and intimidation will not work against Hungary.”

Dutch former MEP Rob Roos also said “it’s criminal” that “we [Europeans] keep sending billions of taxpayers’ money… while this is the behavior we get.”

“Ukraine,” Roos added, “is not ready for [the] EU or NATO.”

Yet on Thursday, Zelensky questioned why Orbán was “blocking everything.” The establishment Guardian paper also snarked that the Hungarian prime minister was “using the dispute for maximum political gain before the election due next month,” as if to suggest that he really shouldn’t be taking what can really only be read as a death threat seriously at all.

Kyiv is growing especially frustrated with Budapest thanks to its block on a €90 billion funding package for Ukraine, and is even demanding that Brussels comes up with a ‘Plan B’ for sending cash across. Yet Orbán has said he will step back if Ukraine restores Russian oil transit to Hungary and Slovakia via the Soviet-era Druzhba pipeline.

Zelensky was clearly not at all impressed when Hungary and Slovakia sent a delegation on Wednesday for talks on the pipeline, with Kyiv denying that the group had any official status. A proposed EU mission to inspect the line, which officials in Budapest and Bratislava believe is not damaged, is also awaiting Ukraine approval.