Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Budapest was ending support for Kiev on international issues due to a 2017 Ukrainian law that limits the rights of Hungarians. The announcement comes as Ukraine’s support in Eastern Europe wanes, with Poland halting all weapons transfers to Kiev after President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized Warsaw.
Speaking to the country’s legislature on Monday, Orbán took aim at a 2017 Ukrainian law that limits where the Hungarian language can be spoken. “They want to transform (Hungarian schools) into Ukrainian schools, and if that does not work, they want to close them,” he said. “We do not support Ukraine in any issue in the international scene until it restores the laws that guarantee the rights of Hungarians.”
After a US-backed coup in Kiev in 2014, a nationalist government rose to power. Under Zelensky and his predecessor, Petro Poroshenko, Kiev has adopted a series of laws attempting to eliminate Russian culture in Ukraine. However, those laws have impacted other minority groups in Ukraine, including Poles and Hungarians.
Budapest withdrawing support from Kiev comes after Poland announced it would cease transferring weapons to Ukraine last week. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Wednesday that Warsaw would stop shipments of weapons to Kiev.
Warsaw made the decision after Zelensky accused Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia of supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin by implementing bans on Ukrainian grain. Throughout the war in Ukraine, Poland has been one of Kiev’s most enthusiastic supporters in NATO and the European Union. Hungary, also a member of the EU and NATO, has urged the blocs to take caution in escalating tensions too far with Russia.
Zelensky’s recent international tour to Canada and the US has not netted more support for Ukraine. As well as blundering Warsaw’s support, In Ottawa, Zelensky celebrated a WWII Nazi that fought with Germany, creating a second public relations nightmare.
