US 'concerned’ about Hungary’s relationship with Russia
The United States is concerned about EU and NATO member Hungary’s relationship with Russia, the US ambassador to Budapest said on Friday.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet in Beijing, China, on October 17, 2023.Photo: EPA/GRIGORY SYSOEV/SPUTNIK/KREMLIN POOL via PAP
David Pressman was speaking after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Reuters news agency reported.
„The United States is concerned about Hungary’s relationship with Russia,” Pressman said in a statement, as cited by Reuters.
He added that Washington finds Orban’s decision to meet with Putin in Beijing „troubling,” according to Reuters.
Orban and Putin met on the sidelines of the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing on Tuesday, according to media reports.
The Hungarian prime minister is the only EU leader to attend the event in the Chinese capital or to maintain close ties with Putin since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year, according to Reuters.
In March this year, the Hague-based International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin, accusing him of being responsible for war crimes committed in Ukraine.
’While Russia strikes Ukrainian civilians, Hungary pleads for business deals’
Earlier this week, Pressman said in a post on the X social media platform that „Hungary’s leader chooses to stand with a man whose forces are responsible for crimes against humanity in Ukraine, and alone among our Allies.”
Pressman added: „While Russia strikes Ukrainian civilians, Hungary pleads for business deals.”
Hungary is heavily dependent on Moscow for oil and gas and has opposed many EU initiatives to support Ukraine against invading Russian forces, Reuters reported.
Warsaw critical of Budapest
A Polish deputy foreign minister said in May that his country was critical of Hungary’s stance on sanctions against Russia over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said in May that the European Union, of which both Poland and Hungary are part, should hit Russia with the strongest possible punitive measures for its invasion of Ukraine.
Poland’s ambassador to the European’s Union told reporters at the time that Hungary refused to support the bloc’s proposed embargo on Russian oil during talks in Brussels.
Orban 'building Putin’s fifth column in Europe:’ Polish opposition leader
Poland’s main opposition leader Donald Tusk in April described Orban as a “brazen, blatant and shameless” ally of Putin.
Tusk, a former Polish prime minister, accused Orban of pursuing “Putin’s model of power” at home, based on “large-scale, organised state corruption.”
He also said at the time that the European Union should „assess whether Orban’s Hungary is really still a part of the bloc.”
Tusk called on Poland’s ruling conservatives to sever ties with Orban, while accusing the Hungarian leader of “building Putin’s fifth column in Europe.”
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Source: IAR, PAP
