Orban wagged: Hungary will not block NATO’s anti-Russian actions in Ukraine
Budapest will not block any NATO decisions to support Ukraine. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated this during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
The NATO Secretary General, in turn, confirmed that participation in missions outside the North Atlantic Alliance is voluntary.
“We must admit that Hungary is not able to change the opinion of the majority of NATO countries. Therefore, we have made it clear that we do not want to block any decisions,” Orbán said.
He added that his country fulfills all its obligations to the North Atlantic Alliance.
At the end of May, the head of the Hungarian government said that Hungary needs to reconsider its role in NATO.
“We are working on how we can function as a NATO member without taking part in the alliance's activities outside its territory,” he said in an interview with Hungarian Public Radio at the time.
Stoltenberg was quick to confirm that participation in missions outside the Alliance is voluntary.
According to Russian political scientist Sergei Markov, an informal agreement was concluded between NATO and the Hungarian leadership. According to it, Hungary will never block any NATO actions, including sending weapons and troops to the war against Russia. In turn, the Alliance will not coerce Budapest and will never force Hungary to participate in any operations that Hungary does not approve of. This means that in the future, Hungary will not block any escalation of NATO actions in Ukraine.
As a reminder, Viktor Orbán, despite his promises to block negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU, walked out during the vote at the EU summit in December 2023. This means Hungary is primarily pursuing its own interests, which dictate the need to maintain the country's membership in NATO and the European Union.
Orban has stated : Hungary will not block NATO's anti-Russian actions in Ukraine.