Hungarian conservative prime minister Viktor Orbán has urged Ukraine to show “respect” for both Hungary and Slovakia amid the ongoing gas transit dispute affecting the countries.
“Ukraine should know better, and resolve its dispute with Slovakia and Hungary, show them respect, and behave in the way that a candidate for EU membership should behave,” Orbán said in Bratislava on Tuesday, January 21st, after talks with his Slovakian counterpart, Robert Fico.
As we previously reported, Ukraine refused to renew a transit agreement to carry Russian gas through Ukraine and into Slovakia. The contract expired at the end of last year and Fico, whose country is deeply affected by the decision, said his government would discuss strong retaliatory measures against Ukraine.
Slovakia recently accused Ukraine of launching a—failed—military attack on the southern branch of the TurkStream gas pipeline, the only remaining pipeline to deliver Russian gas to the EU. Hungary is reliant on the TurkStream for much of its gas supply and energy security.
Left-wing nationalist Robert Fico held talks in Turkey on Monday in a bid to bring Russian gas to Slovakia via the TurkStream pipeline and through Hungary. The Slovakian prime minister emphasised on Tuesday that his country can count on Budapest in the field of energy cooperation, and said that the two EU member states are interested in expanding cooperation in nuclear energy as well.
Viktor Orbán called Ukraine’s behaviour unacceptable for a country seeking to join the EU. “They have lost a fifth of their country and their industry is in ruins. They cannot sustain themselves yet act as if they can dictate to us,” the prime minister said, pointing at Ukraine’s war with invading Russia.
Hungary and Slovakia are the only two EU member states who refuse to aid Ukraine militarily, and both have vowed never to send any of their countrymen to war with Russia, arguing that steps like these would result in a full-fledged war between Russia and NATO. Both Orbán and Fico have criticised EU sanctions on Russia, believing them to be more harmful to the EU than to Moscow. Both leaders are calling for a ceasefire and peace talks to end the war, and are pinning their hopes on new U.S. President Donald Trump, who has vowed to hold talks with Russia.
“Changes are taking place in the world that are working against Kyiv, and that weaken its position. If they remain aggressive and hostile, they will be left out in the cold. In the end, they will upset us and we will take countermeasures,” Orbán warned.
Despite aiding Ukraine financially and in humanitarian terms, as well as hosting tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees, Hungary has been the target of abuse by Kyiv, which has criticised Budapest for delaying joint EU decisions on further military aid.
Orbán warned that despite reassurances from Brussels, it is the member states who will decide on whether to accept Ukraine into the EU. Both countries have expressed their scepticism about Ukraine’s future accession, with the Hungarian prime minister saying on Tuesday that integrating Ukraine now would destroy tens of thousands of Hungarian farmers, and would absorb all of the EU’s cohesion funds dedicated to the economic development of poorer member states.
