Russia

Number of Russian diplomats increased in Hungary after the war began – but why?

Orbán Putin visit Russian cyber attacks

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began on 24 February 2022, European countries massively reduced the number of diplomats working at Russian embassies. Throughout the continent, about 400 of them were expelled under suspicions of conducting espionage for the Russian state. This means that the Russian diplomatic personnel residing in Europe was basically halved.

There are only two exemptions to this practice. One of them is Serbia, a long-time ally and friend of Russia. The other one is the EU and NATO member state of Hungary. From November 2021 to July 2022 the number of official Russian diplomats inside the country rose from 46 to 50. Until October, this grew to 59. This means the number of people working at the Russian Embassy increased by 1/3rd after the war began, writes Szabad Európa.

Diplomats or spies?

Since October, the number of Russian diplomatic personnel in Hungary has since decreased to that before the war. The question arises: for what reason was this temporary increase necessary? There are several alarming factors. For example, projects related to diplomatic work tend to last for years, not months, which makes the circumstances suspicious. In addition, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade refused to acknowledge these changes.

Benedek József Kiss security policy expert, ex-military intelligence officer told RTL last year that at Russian diplomatic bodies, the amount of people working as agents for the state’s intelligence offices is considerably high – around 60-70 percent. Fellow European experts estimated that agents disguised as diplomats at Russian Embassies make up about 1/3rd of the total personnel.

Role of the spy bank

After Hungary re-joined the International Investment Bank (IIB, more commonly known as the Russian spy bank), more possible Russian agents got the chance to reside in the country. Since the relocation of the bank’s headquarter to Budapest in 2019, Hungary became more at risk of infiltration.

At its maximum, the bank employed over 100 Russians, about whom we knew nothing about, only the fact that they enjoyed diplomatic immunity. This is all due to a special law created for this reason. These further fuel the suspicion of possible espionage.

In addition, since the sanctions on Russia were introduced, the IIB couldn’t really act as a bank anyway. Every investor country left its premises after the war began, expect for Hungary and Russia. When the USA introduced special economic sanctions against the bank and its leaders, the Hungarian government announced its withdrawal as well.

Right now, the number of Russians working in Hungary with diplomatic immunity is estimated to be around 100. This is much higher than in larger countries such as the UK (33), or at our partners in the region, like Slovakia (15) or Czechia (8).

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Here is what people think about the USA’s “pro-war” billboard campaign in Hungary

USA billboard campaign Russian go home

A vast majority of Hungarians favour boosting or maintaining Hungary’s current relations with the United States, but also find the billboard campaign supported by the US embassy unacceptable, according to a fresh survey by the Nézőpont Institute.

Billboard campaing unacceptable

Altogether 40 percent of the survey’s respondents said they wanted stronger ties between Hungary and the US, while 26 percent favoured maintaining the current level of bilateral relations, according to a summary of the survey’s findings published on Nézőpont’s website. This, however, does not necessarily mean that they agree with the Biden administration, the think-tank said, pointing out that 59 percent of respondents opposed the US embassy’s recently-launched billboard campaign. Nézőpont found that 38 percent of opposition voters said they found Washington’s campaign unacceptable.

The US embassy’s billboard campaign: the inscription says that there will only be peace if the Russian invaders leave Ukraine.

Hungarians want close ties with the USA

Fully 16 percent said they favoured looser ties between Hungary and the US. The survey found that 33 percent of those who support the prime minister and 50 percent of those critical of him wanted to strengthen relations with the US. Meanwhile, 29 percent of the prime minister’s supporters and 23 percent of his critics said they were satisfied with the current state of bilateral ties. Altogether 18 percent of government supporters and 8 percent of opposition sympathisers said Hungary should loosen relations with the US. While a majority of respondents said they were against the billboard campaign backed by the US embassy, 26 percent said they found it “somewhat acceptable”.

Among those who favour stronger ties with the US, there was an even split of perceptions of the campaign, with 43 percent saying they found it acceptable and the same percentage finding it unacceptable. Fully 68 percent of those who want to maintain the current level of relations opposed the campaign, while 25 percent found it acceptable. Altogether 88 percent of those who want to loosen bilateral ties had a negative view of the campaign, and just 8 percent said it was acceptable.

A total of 82 percent of the prime minister’s supporters found the embassy’s campaign unacceptable as against 10 percent of them who said it was acceptable. Altogether 45 percent of opposition supporters said they were in favour of the campaign, while 38 percent were critical of it. Nézőpont conducted its representative survey of 1,000 adults by phone from April 17 to 19.

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Hungarian opposition queries government on Paks expansion

Paks nuclear power plant

The opposition Párbeszéd party on Thursday said it has submitted a series of questions to the government in connection with the upgrade of Hungary’s nuclear power plant in Paks.

Addressing an online press conference, Benedek Jávor, an advisor to the party, noted that Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó announced last week that Hungary and Russia had agreed to modify the contract on the plant’s expansion.

Jávor said Párbeszéd’s questions aimed to clarify the changes and which contracts they applied to.

He said Párbeszéd wanted to know whether it was possible that Paks 2, the project company in charge of the upgrade, would take over contractor duties and the related financial and legal responsibilities.

The party also seeks information on whether the issue of the project’s increased costs, “for which Russia’s Rosatom is to blame”, would be settled if a new contractor was appointed, he said.

Another question Párbeszéd wants answered is whether a potential new financing contract would be submitted to parliament for approval, Jávor added.

Russian-beheaded Ukrainian soldier lived in Nagyszőlős

Nagyszőlős soldier beheaded

A video went viral last week showing a Ukrainian soldier and some Russians who executed him cold-bloodedly. The victim’s name was Szerhij Pataki (or Potoki in Ukrainian), and he lived in Nagyszőlős (Vynohradiv), a small town of 25 thousand inhabitants in Transcarpathia. Transcarpathia is a region of Ukraine near the Hungarian border where more than 100 thousand Hungarians live. They did not move there. They were born there as members of the indegenous Hungarian community. Thus, it is not surprising that a quarter of Nagyszőlős’s population was Hungarian before the Russian invasion, while the mayor is also Hungarian, István Bocskai.

According to telex.hu, Mr Pataki had two kids, a 6-year-old daughter and an 18-month-old son. Ukrainian government sources confirmed that he was the victim of the Russian brutality committed in Bakhmut, the Ukrainian city, where fighting is the most serious currently. According to eyewitnesses and troopers, the situation in the city turned into a battleground is like WWI and WWII.

A councillor of the Nagyszőlős municipal council said the Russians took his phone and recorded what they did to him to show everybody. Vicseszlav Kusz added that Pataki worked in the local market and sold vegetables and fruits. He became a soldier after the mobilisation.

Here is a photo of him:

The Ukrainian army confirmed

Pataki has been serving in Bakhmut, one of the hotspots of Russian aggression in Ukraine. The city has been under siege since July. At peacetime, 70 thousand people used to live in the city. Now, there are only 4 thousand, mostly old people, who would not like to flee their homes. Experts tend to compare the fight there to the ones in WWI, especially Verdun, because both parties lost a lot of soldiers.

Pataki died in March, which was made public without additional information. His execution appeared first on Twitter on 11 April. The video went viral almost immediately but was deleted shortly after that. On 12 April, the Ukrainian army confirmed one of their soldiers is the victim. They said Russians captured him but did not tell his name. Now we know. RIP.

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Fidesz politician: Russia is our partner

PM Orbán and Putin Russian gas

Asked about corruption in Brussels, Gulyás said that as a member of the EU, “we are interested in the headquarters of the European Union functioning well and being above all suspicion”, and yet we see that “Brussels is full of corruption”, and there are still cases suggesting “charges of influence peddling”.

It must be made clear that no norms other than EU law apply in Brussels, he said, adding that “we support the investigation of such cases”.

Speaking about EU foreign policy, he said the main subject of Hungarian criticism was that major EU member states did not recognise or represent European interests, while major actors of international diplomacy stood up for their own interests.

Regarding the statements made by French President Macron during his visit to China, Gulyás said it was “a brave step and initiative for Europe to recognise its own interests and act accordingly”.

He said Europe was interested in free trade and that within the relevant framework “we maintain economic relations not only with our allies but also with the eastern half of the world”.

Asked about whether the Hungarian government supported the re-election of Ursula von der Leyen as head of the European Commission, Gulyás said it was too early to comment on that. At the same time, he noted that the German union parties have recently decided that they would support her re-election and she was present at the meeting. Gulyás dismissed as “speculation” the suggestion that the German politician would continue her career as NATO Secretary General.

Asked about the EU farm subsidies, he said “these are coming to Hungary without interruption”, and they were not affected by the dispute over cohesion funds.

Asked about the finances of the Budapest city council, Gulyás said there was no request on the government’s table for Budapest to take out a long-term development loan. He added that the government considered the indebtedness of municipalities as dangerous and harmful, and this was allowed only in the rarest of cases.

He said the city’s local business tax revenue increased by 76.4 billion forints from last year to this year alone. Budapest’s current leadership inherited HUF 214.2 billion from Istvan Tarlos, the previous mayor. Of this, 25.5 billion remains on the treasury account, according to the government’s information, “which says a lot about how the capital is managed”, Gulyás said.

He linked Karácsony’s announcement on withholding tax for the central coffers with his intention to run again the 2024 municipal election. Two weeks ago, DK president Ferenc Gyurcsány told him off for not criticising the government harshly enough, Gulyás said. “Maybe he’s just obeying his boss,” he added. In the past 15 years, investments in Budapest were implemented by the government, he said, adding they were not endangered by the city’s near-bankruptcy.

The governing parties are working a proposal under which the rules of party financing should also apply to participants of the municipal election, he said. This would rule out the possibility of foreign funding, he added.

Asked about whether price caps may be extended over additional products, Gulyás answered with a clear “no”.

Asked about the central bank’s planned narrowing of the interest rate corridor and the management of inflation, Gulyás said lending interest rates were “so high nowadays” that almost no one would borrow a significant amount to buy a home.

He said the reduction of the upper threshold of the interest rate corridor should be followed by “many similar steps” for this situation to change.

Gulyás said he expected inflation to fall significantly in the summer, with a breakthrough taking place probably in July and August.

Asked about the fate of the state’s share in the International Investment Bank (IIB), which is pulling out of the country, the minister said the Hungarian state was obliged to enforce all its claims. He said the regulation “making clear that the headquarters of this bank is no longer in Budapest” will be published later during the day, and with the departure, diplomatic immunities will expire.

Asked whether Russia is also a friend of Hungary’s, like the United States. “Russia is our partner, our economic partner primarily in the procurement of commodities; the United States is our ally and our allies are our friends,” he said.

He said he did not know of any substantial damages caused to Hungary by the sanctions announced by the United States concerning the International Investment Bank, but, he added, the question was how much money Hungary could obtain of capital invested into the bank. Just as Czechia and Slovakia, Hungary will also enforce its claim on money invested, he said.

MEP Márton Gyöngyösi welcomes the decision of the ICC on Putin

mep gyöngyösi jobbik

Hungarian MEP Márton Gyöngyösi (Non-attached) welcomed the decision of the International Criminal Court on issuing an arrest warrant on Vladimir Putin, President of Russia. In his speech, delivered at the plenary session of the European Parliament, the Hungarian politician said that mass deportation of children is a form of genocide by all norms of the civilised world, and Putin is a war criminal. The Hungarian government, however, has not shown any sign of disapproval with Putin’s policies, pointed out Gyöngyösi who stressed that there is an other Hungary that respects human rights and strongly condemns the genocidal acts of Russia.

 

Hungarian opposition voted down: Putin will not be arrested in Hungary

Putin Orbán Russian gas disgraceful role

Fidesz members of parliament’s foreign affairs committee have voted against an opposition Democratic Coalition proposal that would have allowed the possibility of arresting Russian President Vladimir Putin were he to set foot in Hungary, and handing him over to the International Criminal Court, MTI reported.

Ágnes Vadai told an online press briefing that the government was prepared to “give shelter” to Putin on the grounds that the statute of the International Criminal Court has not yet been promulgated.

She insisted that DK‘s initiative was “voted down today on Prime Minister Viktor Orbán‘s orders … [who] caters to Putin by buying Russian gas at a very high price.”

Orbán is “interested in Putin and profit, he is not interested in the livelihood of Ukrainian children or Hungarian citizens”, she added.

Hungarian foreign minister urges peace in Ukraine in front of a Greater Hungary map

szijjártó várkert bazár greater hungary map speech

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Hungary, Péter Szijjártó, gave a speech in the Várkert Bazár (Castle Garden Bazaar) in Budapest on Monday, urging peace talks and a ceasefire in Ukraine. However, he did so in an unusual environment.

The Foreign Minister of Hungary, Péter Szijjártó, said on Monday that NATO lives in a bubble. However, fortunately there is life outside the bubble, where Hungary’s position is overwhelmingly in favour, he added. This position is the “pro-peace” stance. And, according to Mr Szijjártó, the majority of EU and NATO member states are “pro-war” when it comes to Russia‘s war in Ukraine. “As long as we have this global majority, there is hope that this war can be brought to an end as soon as possible,” Szijjártó shared in a Facebook post.

Telex noticed that the foreign minister said all of this in front of a map of Greater Hungary – part of which now belongs to Ukraine. According to the news portal, this might give us an idea about what kind of peace the Hungarian foreign minister is urging.

“How elegant and pro-Ukrainian gesture it is to talk about peace and security in front of a map of a piece of Ukraine belonging to Hungary is for everyone to decide,” Telex concludes.

Which nations do Hungarians like and dislike the most?

Ethnically mixed nations

A new study revealed which nations Hungarian people like and dislike the most. Political preferences make a huge difference in the responses.

In a survey commissioned by Népszava, the Publicus public opinion research institute was tasked to ask Hungarians that at what extent they feel sympathy or antipathy towards other nations. In the survey, which was representative of age, gender and education level, respondents expressed their opinions on eighteen nations.

The most liked nations by Hungarians

The most liked nation according to the respondents was the Italians, with 84 percent of the respondents replying that they have a positive affinity towards them. They were closely followed by the Austrians, with 82 percent of the respondents saying they are positive in their opinion.

On the lowest step of the fictional podium are the Polish, with 81 percent. Just below Polish people are the Spanish and the Finnish, with both countries scoring above 80 percent of positive remarks from the respondents. The Spanish scored the lowest score on antipathy as well, with only 3 percent of the respondents stating that they do not like Spanish people.

The most disliked nations

The most disliked nation according to the respondents proved to be the Russian, with 47 percent of the respondents stating that they particularly dislike them. It was the only nation where antipathy was stronger in respondents, with only 44 percent of them stating they associate positive connotations with Russian people.

The Russians were followed by the Romanians (36 percent), the Chinese (31 percent) and the Ukrainians (30 percent). Indians were placed in a particularly low position, thanks to in no small part due to the indecisiveness of the respondents, with 24 percent of them either refusing to answer or stating that they do not have sufficient information to rank them.

Read also: One of the most wanted Hungarian criminals arrested in Scotland

Political affinity makes a huge difference in the response

Despite the overall positive picture with no other nation scoring below 50 percent other than Russia, there were huge differences in the responses based on political preferences. Overall, Hungarian people who agree with the current government and voted for Fidesz were much more close-minded and had a worse opinion of all but three nations than left-leaning voters.

These three nations were the Russians, the Chinese and the Turkish. Publicus mentions that this means that Fidesz’s message still reaches its voter base with incredible efficiency. Fidesz voter respondents stated that they dislike the Ukrainians most, they were followed by Americans (USA), the Germans and just then the Russians. However, this survey also shows that despite the supermajority that Fidesz is enjoying in the national parliament, Hungarian people generally have much more nuanced opinions.

Read also: Hungarian governing party continues to criticise the US ambassador

Hungarian mystery: an ammunition production line vanished in thin air

Ammunition production line Hungary

We have recently come across a rather odd mystery in Hungary. In a year, 75 million cartridges may be produced on the production line, but it is not known where they are delivered. The company demands compensation now. How’s it going to proceed? 

Mysterious factory

Csaba Papp, the managing director of Borsodi General Engineering Plant Ltd (BS-GÉP) shared details with 24.hu regarding the complicated case. “The GRU agent Russians, who have been forced out of the country by the intelligence services, may sue me in Budapest for revealing where a NATO-compatible ammunition production line is, which I imported from Turkey, also a NATO member, while some NER acrobat has been profiting from it for years,” Papp said.

In one shift, 25 million rounds of 7.62 x 39 millimetre Kalashnikov ammunition are produced by the production line that vanished. Not only its manager, but also the competent authorities do not know where they can be located. Since a bullet costs about USD 2, up to 75 million rounds could come off the line in three shifts. So in one year, USD 150 million, or HUF 52 billion in revenue, has disappeared.

The series was imported from Turkey by BS-GÉP. It was intended for the gunpowder and ammunition factory in Balatonfűzfő, but it did not end up there.

The case of the phantom factory and the bullet production line even turned into a lawsuit. The proceedings brought by Csaba Papp on suspicion of budgetary fraud have been closed. The court found no budgetary damage or other debts to the state. For this reason, Papp would like to claim the benefit, as he has not received it so far.

The lost profit could be as much as HUF 200 billion (EUR 539,059,747.80), as the line disappeared in 2018. The story of the missing ammunition production machine is mysterious and fascinating anyway, but the situation is exacerbated by the fact that there is an ammunition shortage all over Europe due to the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Not long ago, a shipment of one million rounds of ammunition has been arranged in Brussels to help Ukraine. There is currently no operating, domestically owned ammunition factory in Hungary, but there are plans. In Várpalota, a giant 70 billion euro project has recently been launched.

What is behind this odd case?

The Mil-Exim ammunition factory has been in operation since 2015. The project was to be funded by a mix of EU, private and public entities.

When an attempt was made to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief adviser, the first reports in Ukraine cited that Hungarian-made bullets were fired at his car.

The alleged, approximate location of the production line is said to be somewhere in the NAV customs warehouse, where it was transferred in 2018. Papp filed a complaint against the head of the company for abuse of office and embezzlement.

Military equipment cannot be removed from the NAV warehouse without the permission of the capital’s government office. Papp repeatedly asked in vain for information on who had received the permit.

What is known is that it was taken from the warehouse, but there is no official information on who got his hands on it and where it was delivered, hence, compensation cannot be carried out.

Government: Hungary will buy Russian oil in the future

Oil deliveries pipeline Russia Druzhba

Hungary is in a special situation energy-wise since it can only receive its piped imports over land, an energy ministry official has said in an interview. This is why it was important that the government managed to obtain temporary EU exemptions and continue to buy Russian oil during negotiations on sanctions packages, Zsófia Koncz, state secretary of the energy ministry, told news portal Origo on Thursday.

Koncz said the left-wing accusation that the government had done nothing for the country’s energy independence was unjustified, arguing that the government had achieved “more since 2010 than anyone else before then”. In 2010, Hungary had only had two gas pipeline connectors: one with Austria and the other with Ukraine, she said. “Today, we have bi-directional interconnectors with six neighbouring countries to meet domestic needs,” she said, adding that increasing local extraction in a bid to reduce dependence on foreign supply is under way. “This work, however, cannot be completed overnight,” she said.

Concerning alternative energy sources, Koncz noted that Hungary’s solar energy capacities increased by 1,100 megawatts last year, exceeding 4,300 MW. “Our previous target was 6,000 MW for 2030 which can be achieved within the next couple of years and may be doubled … though this requires developing the network,” she said. The Hungarian government does not regard energy supplies as an ideological or business matter, Koncz said, adding that heating Hungarian homes and institutions must be guaranteed. The country has 1.9 billion cubic metres of natural gas held in reserves, she said.

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Orbán harshly bashed Ukraine, Russia praises him, but what will Biden say?

Orbán Ukraine Russia Biden

PM Viktor Orbán said in an interview that Ukraine financially was “a non-existent country” as the EU, including Hungary, financed its operations. “This is ruining Europe,” he added. The former Russian president liked Orbán’s words, but Ukrainian officials became outraged. Below, you may find their reactions.

The former Russian president likes Orbán

The Ukrainian Pravda wrote a separate article about Orbán’s statements from yesterday. The news outlet highlighted that the Hungarian prime minister regarded Kyiv as financially non-existent and said that without Western help, Zelensky’s regime would have already collapsed, and the war would have ended.

As was expected, Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Secretary of the Russian Security Council, noticed his words. “Well done, bold and accurate for a European politician. We can only add that as soon as Western funding ends, Ukraine itself will end,” the former Russian president reacted. The Ukrainian Pravda added that the US Congress was preparing additional sanctions against Hungary concerning leading politicians and government officials. We wrote about that plan and the relevant legislative motion HERE.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s foreign affairs spokesperson, Oleg Nikolenko, replied harshly on his Facebook page. Nikolenko wrote that Hungary should not deliver an opinion about other countries’ finances while Budapest received much money from the EU. According to index.hu, he regards Orbán’s words as a new anti-Ukrainian statement, and was not surprised it received immediate support from Moscow. Nikolenko highlighted that by supporting Ukraine, Europe invests in European security. The foreign affairs spokesman believes that Ukrainians protect Budapest and other European cities from Russian aggression.

Hungarian sanctions against Ukraine?

Mi Hazánk, Hungary’s radical party protected Orbán. Dávid Dócs, an MP of the party, said that Ukrainian politicians should not insult Hungary. Recent statements by leading Ukrainian politicians were “unacceptable”, Dócs told a press conference on Friday, and he suggested the government may even consider responding with sanctions against Hungary’s neighbour, MTI wrote. Transcarpathian Hungarians would become the main victims of heightened tensions if the government failed to respond adequately, he said, referring to threats by “nationalists and chauvinists from inner Ukraine”. Dócs said it was “unbelievable” that Ukrainians were making such statements when Hungary was providing humanitarian aid and, under pressure from the European Union, “even financial aid is on the horizon”.

As we wrote before, there is tension between Hungary and the USA concerning the war and the policies regarding Russia and China. Hungary would like to reach peace as soon as possible and an independent European policy concerning Moscow and Beijing. The USA would like the European countries to support its struggle against the two global adversaries. France and Poland do not agree on that either on the path. President Macron argued for an extended European independence after his visit to China, while Poland would stick to the utmost protection of the USA.

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Orbán: Ukraine is a non-existent country

zelensky orbán

The United States is “our friend and ally”, but Hungary will not “allow it to force us into the war”, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told public radio in an interview on Friday.

Nuclear war on the horizon

Orbán warned of the dangers of an escalation of the war in Ukraine, adding that “if there is a world war, it will be nuclear”. Commenting on punitive measures announced by the US embassy, he said they were not sanctions against Hungary. The list announced by Washington includes 34 private individuals, including a single Hungarian and others from countries including Cyprus, Austria and Liechtenstein, he said, adding that the action focused “basically on finance professionals”. Orbán said Hungary never agreed with the usefulness of sanctions but did not question anybody’s right to introduce them. “They have been acknowledged and will be respected,” he added.

The Budapest-based International Investment Bank (IIB) could have played an important role in developing central European economies, he said, but ever since the outbreak of the war it was clear the bank’s potential had been circumscribed and the recent sanctions “destroyed it”. Under these circumstances, he added, Hungary’s participation in the bank’s future activities had become senseless, and it therefore withdrew its delegates from the bank and quit the IIB, MTI wrote. Orbán said called the US “a friend and an important ally”, primarily in defence with the countries “members of a joint military defence alliance”. There are similarities of thinking between the two countries, with “basically identical beliefs”, and “we also believe that in order for people to live in peace and wealth, freedom and a market economy are needed”, he said. Christianity is another shared area, while economic relations present “the image of a success story”, he added.

The USA is our friend

“Everything is given so that we can have good and friendly relations,” Orbán said. At the same time, he said the US was not unified and showed an image “of a more divided country with large party political differences”. “When it is a Democrat president in the White House, then relations are more difficult and when there is a Republican, then they are easier,” Orbán said, adding that the Republican point of view was closer to the Hungarian government’s views on basic issues. “It is not our job to select between the players of American political life,” he said, adding that Hungary cooperated with any government that the American people elected.

“US ambassadors are typically political appointees and therefore we must accept that the ambassador stands close to the Democrats,” he added. At the same time, he said it was “unusual that the US embassy uses street billboards to represent the American opinion.” Orbán also said that the billboards with the slogan “Russians go home” seemed to suggest “that they are one step behind” because “we have already sent them home”. “We have already settled this issue”, and Hungarians need not be reminded of their own history, he added. The US is not abandoning “its plan” to force everyone into a war alliance, OrbOrbán n said, adding that Hungary would not “allow them to force us into the war”.

The USA is a safer place than the Carpathian Basin

Orbán said the US appeared “a safer place” on the map, “but you can’t say this about the Carpathian Basin”, and global political risks were different in Berehove (Beregszász) and Budapest compared with America. “Justifiably, we expect the United States to take Hungary’s special situation into consideration,” he said. “We’re on the side of peace, and that is where we want to remain,” he said. The prime minister said that if there were a world war, it would be nuclear. Orbán said the situation in Ukraine was deteriorating every week, while the danger of the war escalating was growing.

He added that reports suggested that Britain was sending depleted uranium ammunition to the front in Ukraine, while Russia was deploying tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus.

“This is of course not a nuclear bomb, but it is one step closer to the world of the nuclear toolkit,” he said.

“The fear that works its way through all of us, that the further escalation of war could result in the involvement of some sort of nuclear weapon, is not literary exaggeration,” he said. “God save us from that!” he added. Meanwhile, Orbán said the pro-war left wing had a fraction of the support of the national government representing peace and security. Orbán said he strove to find points of agreement in dialogue with the left in the interest of unity. “[I]f a country agrees on big things, we are all the stronger,” said, adding that it was regrettable that the left wing was not in the Hungarian peace camp. He said the government was trying to offer “a bridge to the pro-peace camp”, and this is why the ruling parties submitted a parliamentary resolution expressing Hungary’s unwillingness to take part in the war in Ukraine or supply weapons. Orbán said the international community should focus its energies on working for negotiations that lead to a ceasefire and peace. “The left did not cross this bridge…” he said, adding that “hope dies last”.

Orbán: Ukraine is a non-existent country

Orbán said Ukraine financially was “a non-existent country” as the EU, including Hungary, financed its operations. “This is ruining Europe,” he added.
He said European public opinion was not yet at the point where European leaders would change their position on the war and sanctions, “but the moment of truth will come”, adding that Europe’s security and economy were being “ruined” in the meantime. Orbán said the war would be over the moment Europe and America “answers ‘no’ to the question” of whether they would continue supporting Ukraine financially. With tens of billions of euros missing from the European economy, “this cannot continue indefinitely,” he added.

Meanwhile, the prime minister called the French president’s visit to China “very important”, saying a “different voice” had appeared looking for potential partners rather than potential enemies, and he likened this to “Hungarian common sense”. Hungarian foreign policy’s aim, he added, was to gather friends, not enemies. The prime minister said that Emmanuel Macron’s talk of European strategic autonomy also pointed in this direction, and it “degraded Europe’s spirit” to take over the foreign policy of other countries. “Europe must start from its own interests,” he said. France, he said, was Europe’s only leading power able to raise questions in a historical framework, and, he added, if only the French president were called de Gaulle everyone would agree with him on almost all issues.

Orbán said that Macron was honourable, though he did not conceive of Europe’s future in the same way as Hungary, “as we believe in a Christian renaissance”, while Macron saw the need to make a liberal Europe globally competitive. On the subject of the economy, Orbán said inflation was expected to fall noticeably in April before seeing a more decisive drop in May and June, adding, however, that measures to reduce inflation so far had not had a sufficient effect to warrant removing the price cap. The prices of some products, especially food, are affected by competition for customers, but so far these are few and far between, he added. The government, he said, was waiting for its inflation “vaccine” to work, and it would continue to focus on reducing inflation.

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MEP Gyöngyösi: Hungary’s road to isolation

Sponsored content

MEP Márton Gyöngyösi’s (Non-attached) thoughts via press release:

April 12 of 2023 was an eventful day in Hungary. Foreign Minister Péter Szíjjártó had just returned from Moscow to host his Belarusian colleague in Budapest, taking no more than two days to tick off both states that are held responsible by the western world for the aggression in Ukraine.

In the meantime, the United States of America started an outdoor media campaign in Hungary to counterbalance the Budapest government’s propaganda machine and show Hungarians the real reasons for the Ukraine war.

This is a highly unusual step indeed, but it’s equally uncommon for a NATO member state government to consequently take a pro-Moscow stance and call for Ukraine’s surrender on a weekly basis – but that’s exactly what’s going on in Hungary.

Meanwhile, the United States’ Budapest Ambassador David Pressman, unusually for a diplomat, called for a press conference to announce sanctions against certain entities located in Hungary. Although the sanctions weren’t nearly as serious as some people expected based on the media reports, the ban on the Russian spy bank and its Budapest operatives, including a Hungarian diplomat, is an important message.

Sanctioning obscure bureaucrats never shakes the foundations of any regime, but the series of events is a clear indication of the path Hungary is taking.

The space of the country’s foreign minister is slowly reduced to that of a rogue nation: he is hardly welcome anywhere but in Moscow and Minsk. At the same time, the United States thinks it has to use outdoor media to fight the Russian disinformation so eagerly spread by the Fidesz government. And even if the sanctions have not hit the big fish yet, they clearly may be able to do so in the future.

Disclaimer: the sole liability for the opinions stated rests with the author(s). These opinions do not necessarily reflect the official position of the European Parliament.

International bank will cease operation after Hungary leaves it

International Investment Bank Russia Budapest

The government has decided to terminate Hungary’s membership of the International Investment Bank (IIB), the economic development ministry said on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the United States imposed sanctions on the Budapest-based bank and three of its senior executives resident in Hungary. The ministry said in a statement that whereas the Russia-backed IIB had played an important development role in central and eastern Europe, there was no sense in carrying on with its operations following the US sanctions. Hungary is withdrawing its officials from the IIB, it added. David Pressman, the US ambassador to Hungary, told journalists on Wednesday that sanctions applied to the “Budapest-based, Russia-controlled” bank and three of its senior executives resident in Hungary, including one Hungarian national, MTI wrote.

Before, the United States said they put Imre Lászlóczki, the Hungarian deputy chairperson of the IIB, on their latest sanctions list. The step means Mr Lászlóczki will not be able to enter the USA, nor would he be able to do business or even acquire his bank accounts there. Szabad Európa wrote that was just the warm-up: multiple sanctions against Hungarian officials are in the pipe in Washington.

Here is Mr Lászlóczki:

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New US sanctions against Hungary: a lot of people can be banned soon

President United States sanctions Hungary

A new draft of sanctions targets several Hungarian political figures and officials close to the government of Orbán’s Fidesz party. The legislation focuses on corruption, and it has to be accepted by Congress.

New sanctions in the pipe: Hungarian citizens will not be able to enter the USA

According to the Hungarian version of Szabad Európa (Free Europe), placing the Budapest-based Russian International Investment Bank’s (IIB) Hungarian vice-chairman, Imre Laszlóczki, on the latest American sanctions list was just the first step. The US ambassador to Budapest, David Pressman, said that “the presence of this opaque Kremlin platform in the heart of Hungary threatens the security and sovereignty of the Hungarian people, their European neighbours, and their NATO Allies.” Here is his announcement:

The new bill aims to ban people who are part of serious corruption and/or severely harm human rights. The legislation started last autumn and will affect Hungarian nationals, Washington officials told Szabad Európa. However, it will require a majority in Congress where the House of Representatives is dominated by Republicans. The Orbán cabinet has good relations with the Conservatives. However, Guardian writes that the draft is expected to enjoy broad support.

Dalibor Rohac, the leading analyst of the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, said it was high time to do so. “Probably that is the only language the Orbán government understands”. Of course, not only Hungarians would be concerned. Earlier, America banned the former Slovakian prosecutor general, Dobroslav Trnka, and four government-close Georgian judges.

American-Hungarian relationship close to nadir

Ferenc Vukics, a military expert and a founder of the Nemzetvédelmi Szabadegyetem Alapítvány, said that putting Mr Laszlóczki on the sanctions list was a first message to the other US allies; in the first place, French President Macron. He suggested after a visit to China that Europe should find its path instead of following the USA unconditionally. He believes Washington wants everybody to do what their elite deems right.

The 2022 human rights report of the American Ministry of Foreign Affairs concerning Hungary was devastating. They said that “while the government took some steps to identify, investigate, prosecute and punish officials who committed human rights abuses, action against high-level, politically connected corruption was limited.” Furthermore, Hungary was the EU’s most corrupt state in 2022, Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index found.

In October 2014, the USA banned six Hungarian officials and public people, including the head of the national tax office. The reason was concerns about corruption. Then the US Chargé d’Affaire in Budapest, André Goodfriend, did not share any names.

Leaked Pentagon documents presented this week that PM Viktor Orbán views the Bide administration as his greatest adversary.

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Shocking move? The US could announce sanctions against Hungary! – UPDATE

US Ambassador David Pressman Budapest

The United States may be planning new measures to punish the Hungarian government. The US doesn’t like that Hungary is still maintaining close relations with Russia despite its invasion of Ukraine, therefore it could announce sanctions against Hungarian people.

According to 444.hu, who has cited several independent diplomatic sources, the US could be planning new measures against Hungary. They might announce sanctions against influential Hungarian individuals, similarly to 2014, when 6 people with corruption charges were banned from the US.

The site mentions that US Ambassador to Hungary, David Pressman, announced a press conference for Wednesday, but he did not elaborate on what the occasion or the topic will be. 444.hu writes that Pressman could announce new sanctions against Hungary. We will keep our readers updated on the sanctions.

US-Hungary relations at a low point

Diplomatic relations between Hungary and the US are at a historical low. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was making jokes about Pressman’s name in his recent State of the Nation address, as his name can be translated to Hungarian as someone who is pushing Hungary towards the Russo-Ukrainian war.

Recently it was confirmed that Hungary was not invited to US President Biden’s democracy summit. According to the Biden administration, Hungary (and fellow NATO-member Turkey) are “dismantling” their democracies.

US Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman previously criticised Hungary’s foreign policy. In an open letter sent to Politico, he called out Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for “embracing Russian ‘cease-fire’ proposals while continuing to push policies endorsed by Putin”.

“It is irrelevant, completely irrelevant, what he or any other ambassador thinks about the internal political practices in Hungary because it has nothing to do with him,” Hungarian FM Péter Szijjártó reacted to Pressman’s statements, while further emphasising that the US Ambassador “has no business interfering in Hungary’s internal affairs”.

Pressman told Népszava that he personally does not care that much about the “defamation campaign against him”, but both he and the US Foreign Ministry considers it as a political attack against the US. He said that such anti-American rhetoric from an allied country is “unprecedented”.

UPDATE: The US sanctions are here: Hungarian head of the Russian spy bank is also on the list

International press: Hungary puts power in Putin’s hands

rosatom hungary russia szijjártó

After new emerged that Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s foreign minister, travelled to Moscow to discuss Hungarian gas supplies, the international press immediately reacted in one way or another. As they point out, Hungary is not seeking independence from Russian gas, which gives Vladimir Putin greater power over the EU country.

As we reported, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó travelled to Moscow on Tuesday to discuss gas supplies to Hungary. He held talks with Alexander Novak, Deputy Prime Minister for Energy, and Alexey Likhachev, CEO of Rosatom.

“Hungary’s energy security requires uninterrupted gas, oil and nuclear fuel supplies. To ensure this, cooperation with Russia in the energy sector must be continued. This is not a matter of political taste, but of physics,” Index quoted Szijjártó as saying.

FAZ: Hungary continues cooperation with Russia

Hungary is heavily dependent on Russian gas and oil supplies. Even after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, this dependence has not been significantly reduced. On the contrary, the Viktor Orbán-led government has opposed EU sanctions on Russian energy supplies, thee Frankfurter Allgeimeine Zeitung reports.

According to the portal, there are growing signs that the United States is putting increasing pressure on NATO partner Hungary. They write that Budapest is not only not supplying arms to Russia-attacked Ukraine, but is demonstratively not allowing NATO arms shipments through its territory.

TIME: The agreement strengthens Putin’s power

TIME writes that Szijjártó’s meeting in Moscow is part of Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán’s efforts to ensure that his country’s dependence on Russian oil, gas and nuclear supplies does not diminish, even as the rest of the EU seeks independence.

The news portal points out that Péter Szijjártó’s interlocutors, Novak and Likhachev, have been sanctioned by Ukraine and some of its allies, but not by the EU. The article also points out that Novak’s person is key to Hungary’s continued efforts to import gas and oil from Russia, after Orbán won an exemption from the EU ban by threatening to block it.

Bloomberg: Hungary defies EU position

New York-based Bloomberg reported on Péter Szijjártó’s visit to Russia under the headline “Hungary Envoy Seals Energy Deals in Moscow Despite EU Stance”.

“Hungary’s top diplomat secured a deal to expand gas flows from Russia and renewed a financing agreement on its nuclear power plant, underscoring Budapest’s schism with the rest of the European Union over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,”

Bloomberg writes.

The US magazine also makes the same point in its article: PM Viktor Orbán is seeking to increase Hungary’s dependence on Russian oil, gas and nuclear energy. Meanwhile, the countries of the EU are increasingly trying to become independent of it.

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