Hungary is standing by the EU on Ukraine

Thursday marked the beginning of a new era in European politics. Nowhere has Russia’s invasion of Ukraine been met with greater fear and trepidation than in central and eastern Europe, a region all too familiar with ‘brotherly help’ in the form of military occupation by a looming eastern power.

It may be a new era for Europe, but some things never change. In Hungary, which shares an 80-mile border with Ukraine, a tense atmosphere is laced with disbelief at the West’s ongoing portrayal of the country as a dubious ally threatening to sink EU sanctions.

It’s become a cliché of western analyses that Hungary is constantly looking to throw a spanner in the works of a joint EU response. After Russia formally recognised the Donetsk and Luhansk regions as independent states on Monday, baseless rumours circulated that Hungary was considering vetoing the EU’s sanctions package. The Fidesz government hasn’t made any suggestions that this was or ever could be the case; but that didn’t stop a number of influential correspondents propagating the claim.

Hungarian politicians I have met in recent days could not have been clearer about their commitment to a joint EU and Nato response. This is hardly surprising given the country’s history of oppression at the hands of Russia as a Soviet satellite state in the twentieth century. As such, Fidesz leaders are baffled at moves to sow division by casting aspersions on the party’s reliability as a European ally.

‘Our strategic goal is to keep the EU united. We should find a joint answer,’ said Balázs Orbán, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s personal political director, when I met him in Budapest on Thursday afternoon. ‘This was always Hungary’s strategy, but we have been portrayed in a different way by the liberal international media.’

Asked if there are any circumstances in which Hungary – which depends almost entirely on Russia for its natural gas supply – would oppose EU sanctions, Orbán replied that ‘right now, we don’t see any red lines.’ On Saturday, foreign minister Péter Szijjártó debunked rumours that Hungary is opposed to cutting Russia out of the Swift banking system, saying 'this is not true. We have not spoken out against or blocked any sanctions proposal.'

It's true that Viktor Orbán has previously advocated a ‘Hungarian way’ balancing EU and Nato membership with pragmatic business relations with Moscow – and that Fidesz believes a lack of similar pragmatism from the West has played a part in bringing about the current conflict.

‘The opposite strategy has led to a war, in which Nato forces and western powers don’t have the tools to do something serious. I think the other way is a dead-end street. Energy cooperation is important, for example, because it’s in the interests of the Hungarian people. Stopping energy cooperation with Russia in the long term is just not an option,’ said Orbán. Perhaps some red lines exist after all, then.

Fidesz has long argued that sanctions against Russia don’t work and that they have, in fact, been counterproductive because of the damage they cause to the European economy. In this context, it’s obvious that the Hungarian government has agreed to an EU sanctions package in which it does not really believe. ‘Nobody wants to go to war with Russia – so what’s the alternative? Sanctions,’ says Orbán.

But far from a sign of pro-Russian sentiment, it could be argued that Hungary’s willingness to sign up to sanctions now which it has long opposed is the clearest possible indication of its commitment to a shared western response. The government is supporting the EU’s measures despite believing that they haven’t worked before, that they won’t work now, and that they will cause Europe more harm than good. ‘This is still true, but we’ll still support them,’ Balázs Orbán told me.

This isn’t the only area in which Fidesz is showing itself ready to put aside doubts for the sake of EU unity. The country’s complete refusal to cooperate during the 2015 Syrian refugee crisis led many to suspect that the country would have similar problems accepting a probable wave of Ukrainian refugees. Yet various government figures have told me in no uncertain terms that Hungary will accept any refugees who flee Ukraine for Hungary. Balázs Orbán showed no hesitation on the matter, saying that ‘we are a neighbouring country; we have to do our duty.’

This commitment to accepting Ukrainian refugees no matter their heritage comes amid a long-running struggle with the Ukrainian authorities over the plight of Ukraine’s large ethnic Hungarian minority population. Fidesz believes the West has been naïve about the Ukrainian government’s treatment of minority groups in the country – including Hungarians and ethnic Russians – for years; but Hungary is now putting this historical bad blood aside.

There’s no denying that in supporting sanctions against Russia, and in declaring an openness to refugees fleeing war-torn Ukraine, the Hungarian government is going against its natural political instincts. But this only makes its commitment to western unity all the more telling. The country’s cultural rifts with the EU remain unchanged; but in standing up to Russian aggression – something about which Hungary knows more than most – there should be little doubt where the country’s loyalties truly lie.