Orbán imitates Scholz and does Putin a great favour with his sights set on Russian gas

A few weeks ago I commented here the great favor that the German socialist Olaf Scholz did for Putin with a one-hour call.

Socialist Olaf Scholz does Putin a great favor by breaking his isolation
Viktor Orbán helps Putin and denies Ukraine the national sovereignty he asks for Hungary

I said then that Scholz's call helped break the Russian dictator's isolation. I can now say the same about the Hungarian prime minister, who today announced that he had had an hour-long telephone conversation with Putin. Viktor Orbán commented on this conversation: "These are the most dangerous weeks of the #RussiaUkraineWar. We are taking every possible diplomatic step to argue in favour of a ceasefire and #peace talks."

The Kremlin says they discussed trade and economic cooperation and energy

As I already pointed out about Scholz's conversation with Putin, I don't think the Hungarian minister spent an hour talking to the Russian dictator about Ukraine alone. Although I am wary of anything that comes out of official Moscow channels, given its systematic tendency to lie, the Kremlin has provided more details about that conversation:

"A number of current issues of bilateral trade and economic cooperation were discussed, which is generally developing progressively. In particular, attention was paid to further promotion of mutually beneficial projects in the energy sector.

An intensive exchange of views on Ukrainian issues took place. Viktor Orban expressed interest in promoting a joint search for ways to resolve the crisis politically and diplomatically, also taking into account his contacts with a number of Western leaders.

Vladimir Putin, for his part, made fundamental assessments regarding the current development of the situation around Ukraine and the destructive line of the kyiv regime, which continues to exclude the possibility of a peaceful solution to the conflict.

The tense situation in the Middle East region in the context of recent developments in Syria was also discussed."

Hungary announced that it will increase imports of Russian gas in 2025

I have highlighted the most significant parts in bold. The Kremlin first mentions trade and energy relations with Hungary. This statement is consistent with certain moves the Hungarian government is making. In October, Hungary announced that it will increase its imports of Russian gas in 2025, thus helping to provide Russia with income that will allow it to continue feeding its war machine against Ukraine (this is the same thing Pedro Sánchez is doing in Spain, as I denounced in May).

The Hungarian government has asked the US to exempt Russian bank Gazprombank from sanctions

In addition, a week ago the Hungarian government asked the US to exempt Russian bank Gazprombank from sanctions regarding natural gas payments. In its news article on the matter, Reuters noted: "ngary receives about two-thirds of its gas imports from Russia." Right now, Hungary suffers from the same energy dependence on Moscow that Angela Merkel worked hard to promote in Germany, with detrimental effects.

Orbán does not even allow military aid to Ukraine to pass through Hungary

It must be said that Orbán's call and Scholz's call are very different. In November, Scholz said that he asked Putin to withdraw from Ukraine. Orbán has not said anything like that, and if he did ask the Russian dictator for that, he certainly has not commented on it in public. Add to that the fact that Germany has been sending military aid to Ukraine, but Hungary has not. Orbán doesn't even allow other people's military aid to pass through his country. So the Hungarian government isn't helping Ukraine, but it is helping Russia by buying its gas. This is not neutrality, but something quite different and not typical of a NATO country.

Orbán's regrettable statements on the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Otherwise, last year Orbán said that "Ukraine is no longer a sovereign state", that "it is up to the United States to decide when peace will materialize" and that "cooperation between Ukraine and the West has failed." In these statements, Orbán was expressing his wishes more than reality. In fact, Western military aid to Ukraine has decisively contributed to that country causing enormous losses to the Russian invaders and that the objectives that Putin set for himself with this invasion have failed.

Orbán is making a pitiful showing in this war. In 2022 he took up the Kremlin narrative on the invasion and tried to torpedo Western military aid to Ukraine, claiming that the Ukrainians "will never win a war against Russia with American weapons and training officers. Simply because the Russian military has an asymmetric advantage". Orbán also said that "sanctions will not topple Moscow". I have already noted the Russian losses. The recent fall of the ruble also shows that sanctions work.

In 2023 Orbán denied that Putin is a war criminal

On the other hand, last year Orbán denied that Putin is a war criminal, despite the atrocities committed by the Russians against the civilian population of Ukraine, with massacres such as those in Bucha and Izyium, the mass abduction of Ukrainian children and their deportation to Russia, the torture and murder of Ukrainian prisoners of war, and Russia’s systematic attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine. I repeat: what Orbán is doing is not neutrality. He is favoring Putin.

A question of coherence

Of course, I know that this article will make some people feel bad. I am writing it out of a sense of consistency. I have criticised Merkel, Scholz and Sánchez's favours to Putin, so I see no reason why I should not criticise Orbán's favours. If some people think that the fact that the Hungarian prime minister is a conservative should make me look the other way and keep quiet about anything he does, they are wrong. This is an independent blog. I have been critical of various politicians and parties for years, regardless of their ideology. If a politician does something wrong, I say so, and I don't care what his tendency is. It is time to stop looking at politics from an ideological sectarian perspective.

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Photo: Viktor Orbán.