Hungary wants to create an anti-Ukrainian bloc with Slovakia and the Czech Republic
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Budapest wants to form an anti-Ukrainian alliance with Slovakia and the Czech Republic to coordinate positions before meetings of EU leaders.
This was reported by Politico, citing an advisor to Hungarian Prime Minister Balazs Orban.
According to the official, Prime Minister Orban plans to unite with the leader of the right-wing populist party of the Czech Republic Andrej Babis and the Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico.
It is Fico and Babis who share the same views on Ukraine as Orban, calling for dialogue with Moscow, not economic pressure on it.
Although the creation of a political alliance is still far away, its formation could significantly harm the EUʼs efforts to provide financial and military support to Ukraine, writes Politico.
"I think it will happen. And it will be increasingly visible. It worked very well during the migration crisis. Thatʼs how we could resist," said Balázs Orbán.
The official was referring to the European migration crisis of 2015 — a humanitarian catastrophe caused by a massive influx of migrants into Europe from war-torn countries in Africa and the Middle East.
The EUʼs refugee distribution system, which was designed to overcome the migration crisis, was opposed, in particular, by the Visegrad Four countries — Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia.
However, Poland is unlikely to join the new alliance now, as Prime Minister Donald Tusk is a pro-Ukrainian leader, Politico notes.
- On June 17, the European Commission proposed a complete halt to oil and gas imports from Russia. At the time, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said that Hungary and Slovakia did not support the 18th package of sanctions against Russia because of this.
- Hungary and Slovakia are the largest buyers of Russian oil in the European Union. Orban previously said that Budapest was working on finding a way to circumvent the sanctions, Reuters reported.
- Therefore, Orban plans to discuss new US sanctions against Russian oil with Trump in the near future.
Author: Anastasia Zaikova
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