Hungary on Russia’s list of ‘unfriendly’ countries
Russia has published a list of unfriendly countries, including quite many new additions. Officially, all EU countries appear on the list now.
Hungary’s first-time entry on the list
On Monday, the Russian Government updated its list of unfriendly countries, the Russian state news agency reported according to hvg.hu. The list includes, among other states, the entire European Union. Even though the news agency did not specifically mention Hungary but we can conclude that now it has also become an unfriendly country in the eyes of the Russians. Russian Government Spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced that all states supporting sanctions against Russia will be added to the list.
Read also: Everything you need to know about Hungary’s new travel restrictions!
The Russian sanctions
The economic sanctions imposed on Russia are extremely diverse, including the termination and suspension of western companies in Russia, a ban on Russian flights flying to Europe, the confiscation of Russian entrepreneurs’ western assets, and the suspension of various Russian-European joint projects. However, sanctions can also be painful for Europe, as Russia’s natural gas, oil and coal are very important for the European economy. If the conflict escalates, it will hurt both sides in unprecedented ways.
Hungary in the embrace of Russia
After Viktor Orbán came to power in 2010, he announced a policy of opening up to the east. He wanted to look for new eastern partners and allies in addition to the existing Western European Union political and NATO military alliance system. As a result, he was practically the only EU state to announce an extremely friendly policy towards Russia, Turkey and China. Various bilateral relations have been established and many major projects have been completed, for instance, a nuclear power plant with a Russian background and a railway with a Chinese background, both of them built in Hungary. The Russian president would come to Budapest almost every year to attend meetings. He was greeted with friendly hospitality.
Why did Putin need Orbán and vice versa?
Orbán is said to be the Trojan horse of Putin in the EU, but it is disputable. There was an alliance between the two of them due to common interests. Orbán occasionally, even involuntarily, conveyed Putin’s narrative in the EU, so that opinions from Russia could also be heard in Western Europe. The close relationship also positively served Russian companies and entrepreneurs by allowing them to expand their businesses to Europe via Hungary. Orbán saw a tough, patriotic politician in Putin who fiercely stood up for his homeland while withstanding the liberal new wave of the western world. Therefore, he seemed like the perfect ally for Orbán. It was a straight path leading to friendship.
The end of a 12-year friendship?
With the start of the war, things seemed to take a different turn. After nearly 12 years of friendship, Orbán openly turned against Russia for the very first time. However, the Hungarian Government seems to be careful not to appear overtly hostile: European arms were not allowed to be transported to Ukraine via Hungary, for instance. The question, however, is where this relationship will develop in the coming years? Of course, it also depends on how the election unfolds on 3rd April. The government will likely continue its two-way politicisation towards the west and the east, although it will probably be more cautious towards Russia than earlier. However, the current opposition, led by Péter Márki-Zay, would clearly pursue a pro-western policy against Russia.
Source: hvg.hu
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3 Comments
Relationship between Hungary and Russia should not end. The relationship is more than just between two leaders, it is also a relationship between the ordinary people.
Russia’s behavior towards Ukraine is unacceptable. The blame should be placed on Biden. Bidens’s encouragement of Ukraine joining NATO was probably the last straw. The US strenuously objected when Russia wanted to place missiles into Cuba. The US oil and gas policy also did not help Ukraine. Zelensky, manipulated by the US, fell into the trap. The bottom line is Ukraine is being destroyed, the number of dead on both sides is mounting and women and children are forced to leave to stay alive.
It is evident that the Russian soldiers are not well trained because they keep hitting civilian targets. It is time for Russia to acknowledge the poor training of her soldiers and beef up their training.
It is time to call a truce. All the shelling must stop. The Russian soldiers, who bombed the cities, should volunteer to help with the rebuilding.
Foremost, Hungary should keep friendly relations with Russia. Hungary should not allow weapons to be used in Ukraine to be transported through her territory. No one needs more enemies. Hungary should help refugees but must stay out of the melee.
Russia’s behaviour is more than unacceptable. It’s harrowing, indiscriminate bombings and killings. Absolute atrocities. Putin doesn’t care, his propaganda robots say either fake news or Ukrainians bombing themselves. Latest is Russia claimed to have evidence of biological weapons, anthrax, among others, being cultivated in labs near the Russian border. Hence the need to defend their country. Of course no one else has seen evidence of this. They’re aerial bombing indiscriminately. It’s not about precision, they don’t care. Not when Russia can point the finger at the Ukrainians. Now using thermobaric weapons which was used on the maternity hospital. Russia maintained that was “fake news”. Can’t use the words ‘war’ or ‘invasion’ in Russian media. It’s still a ‘special military operation’.
Didn’t send delegates to the first hearing at The Hague as called the claims of war crimes and genocide “absurd”. The ‘humanitarian corridors’ lead into Russia or Belarus. Even then they can’t stop shelling for a period so people can escape. Repairs need to take place at Chernobyl. Putin is both bitter and nostalgic. It’s not about keeping ‘friendly relations’ now, our PM has no input or decision on Putin’s choices. If that were the case, they’d hold peace talks in Hungary instead of Turkey or Belarus. Now there are talks of the Wagner Group going into Ukraine if they’re not there already.
I want peace, everyone does, it’s harrowing to watch, but this is the unknown. The sanctions only seem to empower him. How far is one man prepared to go to save face.
The war in Ukraine is real. Pictures of Ukrainian cities are similar to pictures of London taken during WWII. Generals’ fighting wars goal is maximum advancement with least loss. Some of the Russian Generals decided that taking over the nuclear energy plans is the most economical way to win, turn off electricity, heat and surround the city and cut supply lines. Armies of the Ottoman Empire used similar methods, surrounding fortresses and starving the defenders.. During WWII, factories and energy generators were bombed as well as certain cities. This is the usual story. Nothing has changed in the last 77 years. Yes, there is an advancement, men learned to kill more citizens with less effort. The politicians play games and the citizens suffer.
The threat war crime trials in the Hague mean nothing. Russia does not recognize the court. The sanctions certainly made no difference. The military industrial sectors are celebrating. All our sympathies are and should be with the Ukrainian people, they did not vote for this.
Unfortunately, nothing will stop President Putin until he achieves his aim.