Hungary Faces NATO Exclusion Over Pro-Russian Stance
They are fed up with Viktor Orban! The group of NATO members B9 (Bucharest-9), which held its summit on June 11 in Riga, is composed of nine countries of the North Atlantic Alliance: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Hungary.
It appears to have the serious intention of excluding Hungary because of its displayed sympathies for Vladimir Putin's Russia.
Covering and commenting on yesterday's event in Riga, the well-informed British daily Financial Times (FT) estimates that eight of the group’s leaders — including Klaus Iohannis of Romania — discussed the possibility of excluding Hungary from future meetings of the group.
The Bucharest Nine (B9) group was founded in 2015 in response to Russia's aggression against Ukraine in Crimea and Donbas. At recent meetings of the group, Hungary rejected the common conclusions regarding the increase of aid to Ukraine and the approval of any measures related to Kyiv’s joining NATO.
One of the British daily's sources described the discussions at the meetings as “tough,” stating it will be difficult to organise future meetings if they do not become more collaborative.
The discussions about excluding Hungary from the group are “very serious,” said one of the sources.
Budapest has repeatedly opposed Ukraine joining NATO and the EU, the sanctions against Russia, undermined the efforts of western aid for Ukraine, and maintained close relations with Moscow throughout the war.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban claimed at the end of May that the current direction of NATO could lead to a clash with Russia, adding that Budapest is working to “redefine” its position in NATO so that it can abstain from any actions outside the territory of the Alliance.
Viktor Orban has such pro-Russian and even anti-Western attitudes not only in NATO. In the previous European Parliament, Fidesz, the ruling party of Hungary, was pushed out of the main transnational group, EPP, the European People’s Party, also because of its autocratic drift and non-compliance with the rule of law.
AUTHOR: Dan Alexe
Translation by Iurie Tataru
