Hungarian-Ukrainian Ties: Building Bridges or Mere Talks?

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Budapest earlier this week to discuss potential cooperation and relations between the two countries. During the meeting, Orbán expressed a desire to build stronger ties with Ukraine and sign a cooperation agreement. However, specific details about the agreement are still unclear.

In June, EU leaders overrode Orbán’s veto to approve €50 billion in new aid for Ukraine. Orbán assured them that Hungary would not hinder NATO’s assistance program as long as it did not have to participate in it. Despite their differences on how to achieve peace in the Ukraine war, both leaders acknowledged that Hungary cannot change the significant number of differing opinions within NATO states.

As part of his EU Council Presidency role, Orbán visited Kyiv earlier this year to emphasize the importance of peace for Ukraine’s security and European security as a whole. Although Budapest is skeptical about the EU accession negotiations with Ukraine, Orbán expressed support for modernizing the country and praised progress in addressing issues of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine. Despite these positive outcomes, it is unlikely that Orbán’s visit will change Hungary’s stance on key issues related to Ukraine.

The meeting between Orbán and Zelensky also resulted in an agreement to open the first school for Ukrainian-speaking children in Hungary. Both leaders seem content with the results of their discussions, despite the fact that they did not bring about significant changes on a larger scale.