Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban showed how he listened to President Volodymyr Zelensky’s statement in which the Ukrainian leader said Ukrainian military personnel could speak with the Hungarian premier.
Orban called Zelensky’s remark a “threat,” after the Ukrainian president suggested that, if Budapest keeps blocking a 90 billion-euro EU loan to Kyiv, Ukrainian troops could “talk” to the Hungarian leader.
The prime minister posted a video on his Facebook page showing him in his office watching Zelensky’s address and commenting on it.
The Hungarian leader labeled the Ukrainian president’s words “blackmail” and a “threat,” urging an end to what he called an “oil blockade” and to allow oil to flow to Hungary through the Druzhba pipeline.
“Mr. President, I received your message. You threatened me with soldiers and, through me, all of Hungary. Mr. President, this will not work. Stop this. This is Hungary. Hungarians cannot be blackmailed, and you will not be able to intimidate me,” Orban said.
Earlier this week, Zelensky, speaking after a government meeting, expressed hope that “one person” in the EU—an apparent reference to Orban—would stop blocking European aid to Ukraine. He joked that otherwise he would give that person’s phone number to Ukrainian soldiers so they could talk to him.
In February Orban pledged to block the European credit for Ukraine until Kyiv restores operations of the Druzhba oil pipeline, which supplies Russian crude to Budapest. Ukraine, for its part, has repeatedly said the pipeline is down due to damage from Russian strikes. Hungary’s government argues Kyiv is keeping the line offline for “political reasons.”
On March 5, Orban released a video address vowing to secure the resumption of Russian oil transit through the Druzhba pipeline “by force.”
