PM Orbán wants Hungary to be non-participant in the NATO: will Budapest be expelled?

PM Orbán introduced a new phrase in his regular weekly interview this Friday. He would like Hungary to become a non-participant member state. NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg reacted rigidly. He said they would not let anybody undermine the alliance’s unity.

Hungarian veto against arming Ukraine

According to politico.eu, PM Orbán talked about a special status for Hungary in NATO. He said he would like Hungary to become a non-participant country in operations outside the military alliance’s territory.

That comes after Hungary baulked the unanimous decision of using EUR 2 billion, the profit of an approximately EUR 190 billion frozen Russian asset stored in the Belgian depository Euroclear. That money would have been used to buy arms for Ukraine and help Kyiv’s struggle against the Russian invasion.

“Now a new term has been invented to describe the Hungarian position in NATO, it is called non-participation. We are not a participant now,” Orbán said. That means Hungary will not participate in actions outside the alliance’s territory.

Hungarian opposition pro-war?

Orbán and his government have been warning of an uncontrollable escalation into a world war for months. The country has been crammed with billboards for weeks shouting “War!” and depicting opposition politicians. The Hungarian government says a considerable international lobby aims at the EU and NATO to enter the war in Ukraine. And they have subsidiaries in Hungary: the opposition parties and critical NGOs.

The communication campaign seems to work: despite the presidential clemency scandal stabbing into the heart of the Fidesz world, Orbán’s party leads all the polls just two weeks before the 9 June European parliamentary elections.

Hungary undermining NATO unity?

Probably that is why Orbán baulks such decisions: he does not want to lose popular support. But Western media suggests another scenario. They believe that Orbán maintains his relationship with Russian President Putin. Therefore, preventing such a decision and “undermining the alliance’s unity” is just part of Orbán’s “courting” to Putin.

Orbán regularly says that Russia will never attack the West but suggests that the West would do otherwise. “How many more weapons will we send? How much more money will we send?” Orbán asked in an interview in Hungary’s public media. “This gives rise to the darkest visions,” he concluded.

Stoltenberg would allow Ukrainians to conduct attacks in Russia with American weapons

Meanwhile, Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary general of NATO, told the Economist that they make consensual decisions. He added they would be able to baulk undermining the unity of the alliance.

Stoltenberg even slammed Washington in his latest interview with the Economist. He said they should allow Ukrainians to use the weapons they give them on Russian territory. He added that a heavy fight is ongoing in Kharkiv, which is only kilometres from the Russian border. Therefore, they should allow the Ukrainian forces to use American weapons against the Russian invasion forces standing in Russian territory.

Read also:

• Putin-Orbán friendship: British generals shared Hungary’s disgraceful role after a Russian attack against NATO – Read more HERE
• Hungarian government sends email to public concerning NATO plans on Ukraine war

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