On Saturday, the diplomatic dispute between Ukraine’s foreign minister Andriy Sibiga and Budapest continued on the X social network after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban promised not to admit Ukraine to the EU for another 100 years. Such statements from the Hungarian government were provoked by uncertainty about Ukraine’s future membership in the EU, which intensified the public exchange of views between Kyiv and Budapest.
The dispute was sparked by Orban’s announced position: in the next 100 years, as he said, there will be no parliament that would vote for Ukraine’s accession to the EU. In response, Sibiga stated that such plans are doomed to fail, since “Orban’s master” in Moscow will not endure another 100 years.
“We know that you want a government that would say ‘yes’ to Brussels and be ready to drag Hungary into your war. But we will not allow this! The sovereign Hungarian government will continue to protect the country and its people from your war! Hungary first!”
– Peter Szijjarto
Sibiga, for his part, published a lengthy response with sharp criticism of Orban and urged calling things by their names. He stressed that Orban’s remark is directed not at the Ukrainian state as a whole, but at ethnic Hungarians in Transcarpathia, which, in his words, sounds like a Freudian slip with reference to a peace treaty signed more than a century ago.
“When Viktor Orban says he won’t allow Ukraine to join the EU within the next 100 years, he is not addressing the Ukrainian state. First of all, he is speaking to the ethnic Hungarians in Transcarpathia. This sounds like a Freudian slip, with reference to a peace treaty signed more than 100 years ago, which was tragic for Hungarians. This is the height of your cynicism”
– Andriy Sibiga
In his response, Sibiga noted that Orban and his team do not care about the welfare and safety of Hungarians living in Ukraine, instead seeking to use them as a tool in geopolitical calculations and even hinting at financial manipulations – to build yet another sports facility or a private zoo with exotic animals.
“to keep them as hostages of his geopolitical adventures and continue laundering money through various foreign schemes and funds – to build yet another football stadium or a new private zoo with zebras”
– Andriy Sibiga
As noted, the mentioned plot is tied to a corruption scandal in Hungary around Orban’s estate, where, according to journalists, there is a private zoo with exotic animals, including zebras. In response, Sibiga stressed that the European Union should be a zone of peace, and Ukraine’s accession to the EU is a step toward stabilizing and securing the European continent and the Hungarian population itself.
“But this is not what Putin wants. He wants the war to continue. By blocking Ukraine’s membership in the EU, Orban is carrying out Putin’s wishes. At the same time, Orban blocks the restoration of peace in Europe and turns Hungary into an ally of the Kremlin regime. Today Orban acts not even like Miklós Horthy, but as Hitler’s henchman Ferenc Szálasi. This is the lesson of World War II”
– Andriy Sibiga
“Hungary and the Hungarian people do not deserve this”
– Andriy Sibiga
“the Hungarian people are a people of dignity and freedom, the people of Ferenc Rákóczi II, Sándor Petőfi and Imre Nadya, not Orban”
– Andriy Sibiga
In conclusion, topics of armed policy and Ukraine’s prospects for EU membership remain at the center of political discourse between Kyiv and Budapest, with a focus on security and stability in Europe and the role of neighbors in it.