Hungary seeks to form anti-Ukraine alliance in EU with Czechia and Slovakia – Orbán's adviser

Balázs Orbán, political director and adviser to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, has said that Hungary seeks to unite with Czechia and Slovakia to form an anti-Ukraine alliance within the European Union.

Source: Balázs Orbán in a comment to Politico

Quote: "Orbán is hoping to team up with Andrej Babiš, whose right-wing populist party won Czechia's recent parliamentary election, as well as Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico to align positions ahead of meetings of EU leaders, including holding pre-summit huddles."

Details: Politico noted that the formation of a strong political alliance is still some way off, but if it materialises, it could significantly hinder the EU's efforts to provide financial and military support to Ukraine.

"I think it will come – and be more and more visible," Balázs Orbán said when asked about the potential creation of a Ukraine-sceptical alliance that could begin acting as a bloc within the European Council.

According to Orbán's adviser, this would mark the revival of the so-called Visegrád Group, which included Hungary, Czechia, Slovakia and Poland, when a eurosceptic party was in power in Warsaw after 2015.

At that time, the then Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki led the alliance, while the V4 group promoted strong external borders for the EU and opposed any mandatory redistribution of migrants among member states.

The Visegrád alliance fell apart after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as Poland took a firm stance against Moscow while Hungary adopted the opposite position.

The new Visegrád alliance would therefore consist of three, not four, members.

Poland's current Prime Minister Donald Tusk is a supporter of Ukraine and is unlikely to join any alliance with Orbán.

However, both Fico and Babiš have backed the Hungarian leader's position on Ukraine, calling for dialogue with Moscow rather than economic pressure.

Babiš has faced criticism for his public scepticism about continued European assistance to Kyiv and the Czech foreign minister has warned that Babiš will act as Orbán's "puppet" at the European Council table.

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