Ukraine’s accession to NATO would be beneficial to Hungary and the Hungarian community in Ukraine, but third countries, in particular Russia, are interested in spoiling relations between Kyiv and Budapest, Deputy Foreign Minister Vasyl Bodnar has said.
“The problem of Hungary is in trying to use its NATO membership to attain its goals, which we do not quite understand. On the one hand, Hungary is a member of NATO. There are Hungarians living in Ukraine who are part of Ukrainian society, their security should be a key interest for Hungary. So Ukraine’s NATO membership would be more beneficial to Hungary than vice versa. So I suspect that this is not Hungary’s interest… but the interest of a third party,” Bodnar said in an interview with Radio Liberty, which was published on Saturday.
Answering the question whether such actions of Hungary are beneficial to Russia, the deputy foreign minister answered: “Of course, they are.”
“Politically I can admit that Moscow’s influence on Budapest sadly is growing, and this is a threat not only for Kyiv, but also for Europe, for unity in NATO and for understanding of how Russia acts in a hybrid way,” Bodnar added.
