Prime Minister Viktor Orban ordered extra security at critical energy infrastructure sites after accusing Ukraine of trying to disrupt Hungary’s energy system.
In a video posted to social media on Wednesday, Orban, who maintains the closest relationship with the Kremlin of any European Union leader, said the Ukrainian government is using “an oil blockade” to exert pressure on Hungary.
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He added that intelligence services indicated Kyiv is “preparing further actions to disrupt the operation of Hungary’s energy system”. He didn’t provide details or evidence for his claims.
“We will deploy soldiers and the necessary equipment to repel attacks near key energy facilities,” Orban said. “The police will patrol with increased forces around designated power plants, distribution stations and control centres.”
Budapest recently accused Kyiv of deliberately holding back Russian oil deliveries through the Druzhba pipeline, which crosses Ukrainian territory. Ukrainian officials have denied the allegations, saying the pipeline, which feeds refineries in Hungary and Slovakia, was hit in a Russian drone attack.
Nearly every country in Europe has significantly reduced or entirely ceased Russian energy imports since Moscow launched its war in Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
However, Hungary and Slovakia – both EU and NATO members – have maintained and even increased imports of Russian oil and gas and received a temporary exemption from an EU policy prohibiting imports of Russian oil.
‘Anti-Ukraine campaign’
On Sunday, Hungary threatened to block a 90-billion-euro ($106bn) EU loan for Kyiv and vetoed a new round of EU sanctions against Russia on Monday. Orban has promised to block any other EU measures to assist Ukraine until oil shipments resume.
Druzhba has been out of commission since January 27. Repairs are hazardous, and the pipeline can only operate reliably if Russia stops targeting energy infrastructure, according to Ukrainian officials.
Orban, who retook office in 2010, faces the strongest challenge to his power in parliamentary elections set for April 12. The EU’s longest-serving leader and his right-wing Fidesz party are trailing in most independent polls to upstart centre-right challenger Peter Magyar.
Orban has launched an aggressive anti-Ukraine media campaign, portraying the embattled country as an existential threat to Hungary.
His party has pushed the message that if it loses the election, the Tisza Party will drag the country into the war in Ukraine, bankrupting Hungary and getting its youth killed on the front lines.
Billboards erected across the country show AI-generated images of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy flanked by European officials, holding out his hand as if demanding money.
It’s a not-so-subtle reference to the EU’s efforts to help Ukraine financially and bolster its defences as the war has entered its fifth year.
‘Laughable’
Budapest’s liberal mayor, Gergely Karacsony, told The Associated Press news agency that Orban’s messaging and policies are “a betrayal not only of Ukraine but of Hungary’s national interest”.
“I hope that this will go into history as a failed policy but that history will also remember that there were some who stood up for what is right,” he said.
Ester Zhivatovska, a 19-year-old veterinary medicine student who came from the Ukrainian port city of Odesa to study in Budapest, said the billboards depicting her country’s president are laughable.
“The main message of these billboards is that Ukraine will steal Hungarian money,” she said. “But come on, you’re using these AI images from the Hungarian budget to do what? To win elections.”
Magyar, a lawyer and former Fidesz insider who broke with the party in 2024, has focused his campaign on stemming the rising cost of living, improving social services and reining in corruption.
He also has promised to restore Hungary’s Western orientation and bolster democratic institutions, which have eroded during Orban’s 16 years in power.
His rise was aided by political scandals that have damaged the credibility of Orban’s party. A presidential pardon given to an accomplice in a child sexual abuse case led to a public outcry, prompting the president and justice minister to resign.
