Orban Calls Russia’s Ukraine Invasion a ‘Military Operation’ While Meeting Putin

While meeting Russian leader Vladimir Putin in China, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán called Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine a “military operation.”

The corresponding transcript of the talks was distributed by the Russian propaganda agency RIA News.

Speaking in Hungarian, Orban referred to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a “katona műveletek” or “military operation.”

Opposition representatives in the Hungarian parliament have reacted.

“No, Viktor. What is happening in Ukraine is not a ‘special military operation,’ it is a WAR. A war in which Hungarians from Zakarpattia region are fighting. Shame!” parliamentarian Tompos Márton wrote on Facebook.

Márton is one of the founders of the centrist Hungarian political party Momentum Movement.

Putin and Orban met in China on Tuesday at the sidelines of China’s “Belt and Road” economic forum. It was the first time since April 2022 when Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer’s visit, that Putin had met with a leader from a European Union country.

Unlike Nehammer’s meeting, where the chancellor reportedly took Putin to task, Orban reportedly confirmed his country’s commitment to bilateral relations despite Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine.

On the Hungarian government’s website, there was no publication of Orbán's meeting Putin as of Wednesday afternoon.

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It is Putin's first trip abroad since his March re-election and the second in just over six months to China, an economic lifeline for Russia after the West hit it with unprecedented sanctions.

The Russian and Hungarian leaders’ meetings was covered in detail on the Kremlin’s website. Moreover, in one of the pieces Orbán's use of the term “military operation” is highlighted.

Despite being a leader of an EU country, Orban – who last November was seen wearing a scarf at a football match depicting a map of “Greater Hungary” that included parts of Ukraine – has maintained close ties with Putin and has repeatedly raised roadblocks for Ukraine related to its EU aspirations.