
Orban claims 95% oppose Ukraine's EU accession in disputed Hungary referendum
The poll, promoted by Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government, has drawn criticism over its credibility and turnout.
The poll, promoted by Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government, has drawn criticism over its credibility and turnout.
Hungary's national consultation on Ukraine's accession to the EU had the lowest ever turnout at such a poll, Hungarian opposition leader Peter Magyar said on June 21.
"The Russians are too weak for that," Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said.
"I would not be able to answer my conscience...if I did not do everything now to protect Hungary and the European Union from the Brussels fever dream of Ukrainian accession."
The Council of the European Union will hold a hearing regarding the potential loss of Hungary's voting rights at a meeting on May 27, marking the eighth hearing regarding Budapest's alleged violations of founding EU principles.
Prior, Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) claimed that it had exposed a Hungarian espionage network in western Ukraine, detaining two agents. In response, Hungary expelled two Ukrainian diplomats, a move met with reciprocal expulsions by Kyiv.
Protesters packed Kossuth Square outside Hungary's parliament, denouncing the bill as an attack on civil society and democratic freedoms.
"Ukraine has initiated a coordinated campaign to vilify Hungary in order to undermine our initiative to hold a poll on (Kyiv's) EU membership," Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said.
According to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), this marks the first time Ukrainian authorities have exposed a Hungarian military intelligence network conducting activities harmful to Ukraine.
The decision formalizes Hungary's intention, first announced in early April during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Budapest.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban voted on April 22 in a national poll opposing Ukraine’s accession to the EU, publicly sharing photos of himself marking “against” on the ballot.
Every time Daryna Koryagina enters her Budapest flat rented to her by a Hungarian friend, she sees the same sticker on a wardrobe inside the entrance. "Sorry about our prime minister," it reads. The 33-year-old refugee and PhD student is one of tens of thousands of Ukrainians who fled Russia's
Poland’s Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski criticized Hungary on April 14 for being the only EU member state lacking "moral clarity" on Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Hungary's opposition leader, Peter Magyar, has positioned himself in contrast to Prime Minister Viktor Orban's policies, promising to reset Hungary's foreign relations and end what he calls the government's isolation from the West.
The results come despite Hungary being seen as one of the most Russian-friendly members of the EU.
Stripping Hungary of its voting power in the EU "is getting closer and closer," Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said on April 5.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban sent an invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last November, the day after the ICC issued an arrest warrant for him over alleged war crimes in Gaza.
Budapest had initially planned to veto the sanctions renewal, citing U.S. President Donald Trump's return to the White House and the possibility of a shift in U.S. policy toward Russia.
Orban named 12 demands, the last of which reads: "A Union, but without Ukraine." His other demands include banning "the unnatural re-education of our children" and protecting "Europe’s Christian heritage."
The European Union has reached a deal with Hungary to renew sanctions on more than 2,400 primarily Russian entities and individuals hours before they were set to expire on March 15, an EU official with knowledge of the negotiations told the Kyiv independent. The EU had been braced for
On March 7, tens of thousands of people took to the streets across Slovakia for the third time this year to protest the pro-Russian policies of Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico’s government. They voiced concerns that Slovakia is drifting away from the European Union and its transatlantic allies. Their
The European Union is bracing for a potential Hungarian veto on extending sanctions against Russia, which are set to expire on March 15, Euractiv reported on March 10, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Since 2010, Orban’s government has held over a dozen national consultations on issues like migration and LGBTQ+ rights, which critics condemn as propaganda tools due to their leading questions and low participation.
Twenty-six EU member states denounced Russian aggression and pledged continued support for Ukraine in a joint resolution issued at an emergency summit on March 6, despite Hungary dissenting.
Several European politicians that are considered pro-Russian expressed their approval for the U.S. President Donald Trump after he clashed in a heated argument with President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.
"It will destroy us. First of all, it will destroy Hungarian farmers and Hungarian agriculture; secondly, it will destroy the entire Hungarian national economy, and I have no idea how we will control the crime that will flood into Hungary with this," Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said.
Hungary is demanding the removal of eight individuals from the EU's Russia sanctions list and guarantees on Ukraine's gas transit talks before agreeing to renew restrictions, Reuters reported on Feb. 25, citing sources familiar with the matter.
"If the U.S. president comes and creates peace, there is a deal, I think Russia will be reintegrated into the world economy." Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said.
"Let's leave the judgment to the historians. I am a politician, and we have an EU decision. It obliges me to speak of 'Russian aggression,'" Prime Minister Viktor Orban told Neue Zurcher Zeitung.
Without unanimous support from all 27 EU countries, EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallas issued her own statement, declaring that the January 26 election in Belarus was "neither free nor fair."
Sanctions imposed by the outgoing U.S. administration against Antal Rogan, Prime Minister Viktor Orban's cabinet chief and overseer of the secret service, have only strengthened Rogan's position, Orban said during a state radio interview on Jan. 17.
Viktor Orban also described the European Union as being in a "drunken stage" but predicted a "sobering up" in Brussels.