Orban points to main hurdle in ending Ukraine conflict
The Ukraine conflict will only be resolved when both the West and Kiev accept that Ukraine cannot be a NATO member, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said. Budapest has consistently called for diplomacy and the immediate cessation of hostilities.
Hungary has opposed Ukraine’s bid to join NATO, arguing that such a move risks dragging Europe into a full-scale war with Russia. Since the conflict escalated in February 2022, Hungarian authorities have refused to send weapons to Kiev and continue to advocate a negotiated solution.
“Peace will come when Europeans and Ukrainians alike accept the fact that Russia will never allow NATO to establish a presence on its western border in Ukraine,” Orban said Saturday at a youth festival in Esztergom.
The Kremlin has repeatedly stated that Ukraine’s pursuit of NATO membership poses a direct threat to Russian national security and was a primary cause of the conflict’s escalation. According to Moscow, NATO’s expansion toward Russian borders is a red line, making Ukraine’s bid unacceptable.
Earlier this year, NATO members agreed on a plan to raise their defense budgets to 5% of GDP, citing the need to deter adversaries, primarily Russia, as the key reason for the move.
A broader push among European NATO states to increase military spending has drawn sharp criticism from Russian officials.
In June, the EU redirected approximately €335 billion ($390 billion) in Covid relief funds toward military uses. The previous month, Brussels introduced a €150 billion debt and loan instrument to support member states’ armed forces and defense industries. Russia has condemned the steps, accusing both NATO and the EU of “rabid militarization.”
Orban also stated that a “Russian threat” to Europe is unrealistic and does not exist, and should not shape EU policies. He warned that such an approach would result in faulty and incomplete decision making.
