Copyright kyivpost
Hungary reportedly is seeking to form a new political alliance with Czechia and Slovakia to coordinate opposition to further EU support for Ukraine. According to a Politico report, citing a senior advisor to Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian leader hopes to team up with Czechia’s Andrej Babiš, whose right-wing populist party recently won parliamentary elections, and Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico. The goal, according to the report, is to align positions ahead of European Council meetings and possibly hold joint pre-summit consultations. While a formal alliance has not yet materialized, such coordination could significantly weaken EU unity on military and financial aid to Kyiv. “I think it will come – and be more and more visible,” Balázs Orbán, the prime minister’s political director (no relation), told Politico when asked about the possibility of a Ukraine-skeptic bloc acting together in Brussels. He compared the effort to the Visegrad 4 group – Hungary, Czechia, Slovakia and Poland – which united to oppose EU migration policies in the 2010s. “It worked very well during the migration crisis. That’s how we could resist,” he said. The original Visegrad alliance fractured after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with Poland adopting a hawkish stance toward Moscow while Hungary pursued closer ties with the Kremlin. Any new grouping would thus count three members, as Poland’s current prime minister, Donald Tusk, is firmly pro-Ukraine and has ruled out cooperation with Orbán. Both Fico and Babiš have echoed Hungary’s calls for “dialogue” with Moscow instead of military escalation. Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský earlier warned that Babiš could act as “Orbán’s puppet” at the EU table. Balázs Orbán also told Politico that Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party, part of the far-right Patriots for Europe group, is exploring new alliances in the European Parliament, including with other right-wing or Euroskeptic factions. “So this reconstruction of the [Visegrad 4] is going on,” he said. “We are looking for partners, allies on every topic.” Balázs Orbán accused Brussels of an “organized, coordinated effort to push out the Hungarian government,” though the European Commission insists that its sanctions and funding freezes stem from Hungary’s breaches of EU law, not politics. The report comes as Viktor Orbán faces a tough re-election fight next year. Politico’s Poll of Polls shows opposition leader Péter Magyar’s Tisza party leading against Fidesz. The Hungarian prime minister has announced plans to launch a nationwide petition aimed at halting what he calls the EU’s “war plans” for Ukraine. Writing on Facebook on Oct. 11, he reiterated his opposition to continued EU military aid for Kyiv, referring to discussions in Copenhagen on new funding for arms. “A few weeks ago, Brussels’ war plan was presented in Copenhagen: Europe pays, the Ukrainians fight, and Russia will be exhausted,” Viktor Orbán wrote. “We don’t want any of this.” He claimed Hungary had since been targeted by a campaign of “espionage accusations, fake news scandals and legal maneuvering,” which he blamed on Brussels. Orbán said the new petition would demonstrate that “the Hungarian people do not want war,” adding: “We will be there in every city and every village, because now we need every peace-loving Hungarian.” The Hungarian leader, who has maintained close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, has repeatedly opposed EU support for Ukraine and previously launched a series of national polls to justify Budapest’s anti-EU stance. Local outlet Telex has noted that past government surveys used vague or misleading questions that effectively discouraged dissenting voters from participating.
