Orbán supporters gather outside Ukrainian embassy in Hungary, foreign minister among speakers
Dozens of people have gathered for a protest outside the Ukrainian embassy in Budapest, including Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó and Fidesz parliamentary group leader Máté Kocsis.
Source: Hungarian news website Index, as reported by European Pravda
Details: The protest, organised by the National Resistance Movement, was initially planned in connection with the Druzhba oil pipeline situation.
Around 100 or more people attended the event. Placards could be seen depicting Péter Magyar, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's main rival in the upcoming elections, as "Zelenskyy's puppet", along with slogans such as "Zelenskyy = Saddam".
In his speech, Szijjártó spoke of what he called a "meaningless and hopeless war that has been dragging on for four years", described mobilisation in Ukraine as an "open man hunt in the streets" that affects Hungarians as well, and claimed that Ukraine is "attempting to drag Hungary into the war". He also alleged that Ukraine is "interfering in the Hungarian elections" and has organised an "oil blockade in coordination with Brussels and the Hungarian opposition" to benefit the Tisza party.
"But there will be no pro-Ukrainian government in Hungary, and there will be no pro-Ukrainian prime minister – that's as clear as the fact that we're standing here," Szijjártó said.
The Hungarian foreign minister declared that "everything Ukraine is doing is a twofold crime" in the context of the energy market situation caused by the war in the Middle East – but, he claimed, Ukraine has "miscalculated", as Hungary had already filled its storage facilities and secured alternative supplies.
He also commented on Zelenskyy's recent threat to Orbán, saying that it "shows what Ukrainians are really like".
"We don't need to show the Ukrainian mafia – that's exactly what's happening here, only at a higher level, at the presidential level… But we Hungarians cannot be threatened," Szijjártó said.
The protest lasted about an hour and ended with the Hungarian national anthem.
Background:
- On 6 March, tensions between Ukraine and Hungary escalated again after Hungary detained cash-in-transit staff from Ukraine's Oschadbank who were transporting currency and valuables from Austria to Ukraine as part of interbank cooperation.
- Budapest later posted photos of the confiscated cash and gold bars and said it was investigating allegations of "money laundering". The detained bank staff are expected to be deported.
- Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha described the actions of the Hungarian authorities as "terrorism and hostage-taking", and the ministry has advised Ukrainian citizens to refrain from travelling to Hungary.
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