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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said this week he supports the Chinese Communist Party’s “political settlement” proposal for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a document urging “dialogue and negotiation” with little detail.
Orbán, whose nation borders Ukraine, has not embraced the Ukrainian war cause as enthusiastically as other European Union nations, urging caution regarding lavish spending on supporting Kyiv. Orbán threatened to block a $19 billion aid package in December, warning that unchecked expenses could turn the European Union into “a community of indebted states instead of a community of cooperating member states.”
The Orbán administration has, however, embraced the cause of aiding Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war.
“All refugees who come from a neighbouring country must be helped,” Orbán declared in the early days of the Russian “special operation” to oust Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last year.
Regarding China, the Hungarian government, despite presenting itself as anti-communist, has embraced ties with Beijing, joining China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI) debt trap plan and greenlighting Chinese investment in the country. Budapest has also allowed the operation of “Confucius Institutes,” Chinese Communist Party indoctrination centers, on Hungarian land and explored a controversial plan to allow Shanghai’s Fudan University to open a campus in its capital, which is currently reportedly on hold.
Hungary welcomed top Chinese Politburo member Wang Yi, the former prime minister, last week. Wang was among the first to celebrate Orbán’s landslide victory in national elections last year, vowing that China would “continue to enhance bilateral cooperation in various fields to build a stronger comprehensive strategic partnership.”
“The election result shows that the independent policy pursued by the Hungarian side is in line with the country’s national conditions and the common interests of its people, and is firmly and broadly supported by the people,” Chinese media quoted Wang as saying at the time.
The Hungarian government has weighed in on the Ukraine crisis, vowing that it will stand by NATO but resist efforts by “the Left” to “drag” the country into war.
