Orbán: It doesn't matter if Hungarian drones entered Ukraine, as it is not a sovereign state
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has attempted to downplay an incident in which Hungarian drones violated Ukraine's airspace by claiming that Ukraine "is not an independent and sovereign country".
Source: Orbán on the Harcosok órája (Warriors' Hour) podcast, as cited by Hungarian news portal HVG.hu and reported by European Pravda
Details: Orbán insisted that Hungary has no intention of attacking Ukraine and that its president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, should be more concerned about the situation in the east.
Quote: "Whether two, three or four Hungarian drones crossed the border or not is not the issue. Let's say they flew a few metres into the country – so what? Ukraine is not an independent, sovereign country; we are the ones keeping it funded, so it should not behave as if it were sovereign."
Details: Orbán said that "if the West decides not to give a single forint tomorrow, Ukraine could go bankrupt".
The Hungarian prime minister also asked rhetorically what Russia could have been spying on in Zakarpattia Oblast (Transcarpathia) using the Hungarian drones, given that the front lines are in Ukraine's east.
Background:
- On 26 September, Zelenskyy reported an incursion by a Hungarian reconnaissance drone into Ukraine. Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó responded that "Zelenskyy is becoming obsessed with anti-Hungarian sentiment" and "is seeing ghosts".
- On 27 September, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have collected all the necessary evidence regarding the incursion of the Hungarian reconnaissance drone into Ukrainian territory. He released an image of its route "for the blind Hungarian officials".
- Szijjártó responded by claiming that it was fake and that Ukraine was discrediting itself.
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