Hungarian PM warns EU “heading towards war” in Ukraine

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán hinted that NATO is planning a military mission in Ukraine on Friday, clarifying that Hungary will not participate. Orban expressed significant concerns about the potential escalation of the conflict, suggesting that Europe “is heading towards war.”

In a broadcast on Hungary’s Kossuth radio station, Orbán stated unequivocally, “NATO will set up its mission in Ukraine, but Hungary will not participate in it and will not provide its troops, weapons or financial resources for this purpose.”

This decision, according to Orbán, was reached in consultation with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Mark Rutte, the acting Prime Minister of the Netherlands and likely successor to Stoltenberg.

Orbán emphasized that Hungary secured guarantees from these leaders that it would retain the autonomy to abstain from any future alliance initiatives aimed at bolstering military support for Ukraine.

“We have fulfilled our minimum task,” Orbán remarked, reflecting on Hungary’s steadfast stance to remain outside of NATO’s military maneuvers in Ukraine. This position aligns with Orbán’s repeated assertions that Hungary aims to preserve its status as an “island of peace” amidst escalating tensions in Europe