An open letter from Ukraine's third president, Viktor Yushchenko, to Viktor Orbán

Parliamentary elections will be held in Hungary on April 12, a country whose current prime minister, Viktor Orbán, is a friend of Putin.

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Orbán is facing this election by resorting to increasingly intense anti-Ukrainian rhetoric. Nothing new for him: it's what he's been doing for years, aligning himself with Moscow and its interests (just like the European far left) against a country suffering a purely criminal invasion by Russia. It's hard to believe that this is the same Orbán who in 1989 demanded the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Hungary, denouncing communism. Today, its government is one of the main European partners of the Chinese communist dictatorship, an ally of Russia. It is increasingly incomprehensible.

Yesterday, Viktor Yushchenko, the liberal-conservative third president of Ukraine (2005-2010) after its independence from the USSR in 1991, published an open letter to Orbán on his Facebook profile, accompanied by a photo of the two leaders taken in 1999. For your interest, I am translating the letter into English here (the original text is in Ukrainian):

“Viktor, look at this photo.

We were together at a time when the future of our region seemed shared, clear, and promising. Back then, we believed together that freedom wasn't just a word, but the greatest gift worth fighting for. I remember you differently. I remember a leader who understood the price of dignity and knew what liberation from imperial oppression meant.

Today, I observe your actions and ask myself: Where has that Viktor gone? How is it possible that a man who envisioned the formation of a free Hungary now allies himself with the forces that want to destroy the freedom of his neighbor?

Ukraine is bleeding today for the very values ​​we once discussed at the negotiating table. We are not only defending our land, we are defending the peace of your country, as well as the peace of all of Europe.

Politics isn't just about numbers, profits, or gas. It's primarily about values. By choosing the side of the aggressor, you betray not only Ukraine, but also the memory of your own people, who know what Soviet tanks look like in the streets of Budapest.

Victor, stop and remember who you were. History is unforgiving. It doesn't forgive those who remained silent or collaborated with evil in times of great adversity. You still have time to return to the light, to true European brotherhood, where honor is valued, not dubious political deals.

I urge you to look truth in the eye. Be the leader the world once respected, who knew that freedom was the only way.”

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Main photo: Viktor Orbán.