The stance of Hungary regarding Russia and the war in Ukraine has been clear from the get-go. We always advocated for open and transparent dialogue with the parties involved to assist in finding a peaceful solution to this bloody conflict. This is one of the main reasons why Hungary maintained diplomatic relations with Russia, alongside the obvious economic reality of energy reliance.
Of course, this rather rational diplomatic stance has been under scrutiny by several Western political figures, as pro-war fervor within Brussels elites called for harsher and harsher treatment against anything Russian.
I find a certain amusement in how these politicians flock to criticize the Hungarian government and our openly declared interest in maintaining a diplomatic relationship with Russia, while their moral superiority is a façade at best.
Take Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, who called PM Orbán’s meeting with the Russian President “very unpleasant and lacking any logic.” What you probably don’t know about her is that Kallas’ husband, Arvo Hallik, not only continued to trade with Russia through his companies but helped other Estonian ventures do the same. Hallik made more than €1.5 million in this way, while his wife paraded around the media calling for harsher measures against Russia and Russian citizens. Busted.
We could cite Czech President Petr Pavel here as well, who proposed that Czechia should leave the Visegrád Group for good, due to PM Orbán’s “undemocratic” steps. This is the same man who previously called for a surveillance scheme against all Russian citizens, praising the United States’ treatment of ethnic Japanese during World War II, when the administration sent its citizens of Japanese descent to inhumane internment camps. Sounds very democratic, doesn’t it?
And of course, my personal favorite: David Pressman, who seems incapable of putting his money where his mouth is, as he spent the two years before his appointment in Hungary raking in millions of dollars from Mikhail Prokhorov to get him off the EU's sanction list. Oh, the hypocrisy!