This is why Orbán supports Simion, Romania’s nationalist, anti-Hungarian presidential candidate

The foreign minister said on Monday that a campaign to discredit Hungary has ratcheted up in Ukraine ever since Hungary made clear that it will not supply weapons or money to Kyiv and will not agree to cease energy cooperation with Russia.

No information had been revealed, either formally or informally, in recent days proving Kyiv’s espionage charges, Szijjártó said in response to a question at a joint press conference with his Rwandan counterpart, insisting Hungary had been confronted by a “state-financed and controlled campaign of discreditation” and was on the receiving end of a “propaganda attack”.

Talks on the rights of the Hungarian national minority in Transcarpathia had been planned for today, he noted, adding that “the intensifying campaign to discredit Hungarians” made the timing of the meeting unsuitable.

He said the Hungarian government has stood up for the rights of the Hungarian minority consistently since 2015, yet “the left wing-press start worrying for Transcarpathian Hungarians” when coordination talks are cancelled in the midst of the propaganda attack. This, he added, amounted to “double standards”.

“Obviously we want to continue coordination talks with the Ukrainians about Transcarpathian Hungarians … as the Ukrainians have been making promises for ten years while cheating us for ten years and steadily taking away Hungarians’ rights. You can rest assured that a change to Ukraine’s anti-Hungarian policy … won’t depend on this single coordination meeting.”

Meanwhile, Szijjártó said when war was being waged in a neighbouring country, then it was natural to carry out preparations for self-defence.

“We have maintained this policy for three years: to protect Hungary from the war, to stay out of the war, not to allow them to provoke us into getting involved in a war under way next door,” he said.

“And when a war is under way in the neighbourhood, you must be prepared to protect yourself. That requires an army and capabilities, and the Zrinyi 2026 scheme was not launched only recently, but the development of Hungary’s armed forced has been on the agenda for quite a few years, as we must be able to protect ourselves. Unfortunately, the current situation makes this all the more clear,” he said.

Orbán cabinet continues to back Simion

The Hungarian community in Transylvania (Erdély) rejects the anti-Hungarian presidential candidate, while Orbán speaks out in support of Simion. Orbán’s statement is met with massive outrage, with many saying that the government has betrayed Hungarians living beyond the border. The churches in Transylvania are calling on Hungarians to vote against the far-right Simion, which also goes against Orbán’s wishes, but many Hungarians in Transylvania have spoken out against Orbán’s supporters.

Commenting on Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s recent remarks regarding the presidential election in Romania, he asked what the prime minister should have said in the current situation.

“That we will not cooperate with Romania’s next president? Really? So someone says that he should say just that, and that should be the government’s foreign policy?”.

“We always aim for the best possible cooperation with a country where a huge ethnic Hungarian community lives because recent years have proven for everyone that when Hungary and a neighbouring country maintain good relations, it is best for the local Hungarians. So it is natural that when a presidential election is under way in a neighbouring country, we respect it,” he added.

Concerning the future, he said the government would not accept any curtailment of ethnic Hungarians’ rights and would resolutely advocate for them in Transylvania and Szeklerland (Székelyföld), regardless of the negotiating partner. He said all steps would be coordinated with the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (RMDSZ), which represents local Hungarians in Romania.

Double standards?

The government’s current policy reflects a strong sense of double standards. It has been fighting with Ukraine for years, even though it is also a neighboring country. Instead of trying to defuse the conflict, Ukraine is now one of the main targets of its foreign policy attacks. Meanwhile, support for the anti-Hungarian Romanian candidate is almost obligatory, according to Orbán’s cabinet.

Read also: After Orbán praises anti-Hungarian Simion, Kövér stresses ethnic Hungarians’ interests in Romania

Read here for more news about relations between Romania and Hungary