“Budapest continues its policy aimed at destroying Hungary-Ukraine relations and fundamentally limiting the possibility of further dialogue between the two neighboring countries,” the Ukrainian diplomat added.

In a meeting with reporters, Orbán commented on Russia’s war against Ukraine. According to Ukrainian portals, he made it clear that he does not believe in Kiev’s victory, but believes that Ukraine will gradually turn into an “uncontrollable wreck”, which he says is Russia’s aim to keep the West from speaking out. about Ukraine as a “valuable gift”. And according to Orbán, Russia has succeeded in turning Ukraine into a “no man’s land”, thus being in a similar situation to Afghanistan.

Orbán accused the West of starting a new Cold War, while Hungary wanted to avoid any war and maintain good relations even with Western rivals.

Relations between Kyiv and Budapest were strained even before last year’s invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops. Budapest accuses Kyiv of limiting the right of the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia to enforce the teaching of Ukrainian in schools, and of having blocked Ukraine’s talks with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization because of it. By contrast, Kyiv views with suspicion Hungary’s support for minorities abroad, including granting dual citizenship and financial aid, as a supporting effort to revise borders.

Transcarpathia, which in the interwar period formed part of Czechoslovakia as Subcarpathian Rus, was part of Hungary before the end of the First World War and during the Second World War, or Hungary.