٠٠:٠١:٠٧Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said NATO’s military support for Ukraine is 'dangerous and even irresponsible', warning the bloc is moving away from its 'original purpose' as the alliance convened for its summit in Washington DC on Wednesday.
“NATO was established 75 years ago with the goal of protecting the security of its members. Today, however, it seems to be moving away from its original purpose, behaving more and more like a war organisation,” the Hungarian PM said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
“NATO is taking an increasingly active role in the Russia-Ukrainian war. In our opinion, this is dangerous and even irresponsible because no one can see how this will end or where we will end up,” he continued.
Orban said he would 'argue' at the summit that NATO should 'return to its original spirit', adding that Hungary would not be supporting the alliance’s war efforts in Ukraine.
“NATO should not win the wars going on around it, but the peace,” he said. “I will, therefore, confirm today that we will not participate in the NATO-Ukraine mission. At the same time, we will fully comply with our obligations regarding the development of Hungarian defence capabilities.”
Previously, Orban travelled to Beijing, Kiev and Moscow, and met with Volodymyr Zelensky, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. A number of EU leaders denounced the second visit, claiming Orban had no 'mandate' to discuss the conflict on behalf of the bloc. Meanwhile Orban wrote on X that "you cannot make peace from a comfortable armchair in Brussels. Even if the rotating EU-Presidency has no mandate to negotiate on behalf of the EU, we cannot sit back and wait for the war to miraculously end."
Putin said their talks had been 'very intensive' while Orban said his country was one of just a handful that could meet with both sides. The Hungarian PM also said he had urged Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky to 'take a break', have a ceasefire and 'continue negotiations' - although admitted the response to his suggestion had been 'frank'.
The 75th NATO Summit in DC begins on Tuesday and continues until July 11, with leaders expected to focus on the Ukraine conflict among other issues. According to media reports, Kiev is expected to be told it is 'too corrupt' to join the alliance at the current time, while there is also set to be opposition to outgoing Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg's plan for a 'multi-year' military funding package for Ukraine - widely seen as a way to negate the impact of a potential Trump presidency.
Orban warns NATO behaving like 'war organisation', urges alliance to 'return to original spirit'
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said NATO’s military support for Ukraine is 'dangerous and even irresponsible', warning the bloc is moving away from its 'original purpose' as the alliance convened for its summit in Washington DC on Wednesday.
“NATO was established 75 years ago with the goal of protecting the security of its members. Today, however, it seems to be moving away from its original purpose, behaving more and more like a war organisation,” the Hungarian PM said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
“NATO is taking an increasingly active role in the Russia-Ukrainian war. In our opinion, this is dangerous and even irresponsible because no one can see how this will end or where we will end up,” he continued.
Orban said he would 'argue' at the summit that NATO should 'return to its original spirit', adding that Hungary would not be supporting the alliance’s war efforts in Ukraine.
“NATO should not win the wars going on around it, but the peace,” he said. “I will, therefore, confirm today that we will not participate in the NATO-Ukraine mission. At the same time, we will fully comply with our obligations regarding the development of Hungarian defence capabilities.”
Previously, Orban travelled to Beijing, Kiev and Moscow, and met with Volodymyr Zelensky, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. A number of EU leaders denounced the second visit, claiming Orban had no 'mandate' to discuss the conflict on behalf of the bloc. Meanwhile Orban wrote on X that "you cannot make peace from a comfortable armchair in Brussels. Even if the rotating EU-Presidency has no mandate to negotiate on behalf of the EU, we cannot sit back and wait for the war to miraculously end."
Putin said their talks had been 'very intensive' while Orban said his country was one of just a handful that could meet with both sides. The Hungarian PM also said he had urged Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky to 'take a break', have a ceasefire and 'continue negotiations' - although admitted the response to his suggestion had been 'frank'.
The 75th NATO Summit in DC begins on Tuesday and continues until July 11, with leaders expected to focus on the Ukraine conflict among other issues. According to media reports, Kiev is expected to be told it is 'too corrupt' to join the alliance at the current time, while there is also set to be opposition to outgoing Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg's plan for a 'multi-year' military funding package for Ukraine - widely seen as a way to negate the impact of a potential Trump presidency.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said NATO’s military support for Ukraine is 'dangerous and even irresponsible', warning the bloc is moving away from its 'original purpose' as the alliance convened for its summit in Washington DC on Wednesday.
“NATO was established 75 years ago with the goal of protecting the security of its members. Today, however, it seems to be moving away from its original purpose, behaving more and more like a war organisation,” the Hungarian PM said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
“NATO is taking an increasingly active role in the Russia-Ukrainian war. In our opinion, this is dangerous and even irresponsible because no one can see how this will end or where we will end up,” he continued.
Orban said he would 'argue' at the summit that NATO should 'return to its original spirit', adding that Hungary would not be supporting the alliance’s war efforts in Ukraine.
“NATO should not win the wars going on around it, but the peace,” he said. “I will, therefore, confirm today that we will not participate in the NATO-Ukraine mission. At the same time, we will fully comply with our obligations regarding the development of Hungarian defence capabilities.”
Previously, Orban travelled to Beijing, Kiev and Moscow, and met with Volodymyr Zelensky, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. A number of EU leaders denounced the second visit, claiming Orban had no 'mandate' to discuss the conflict on behalf of the bloc. Meanwhile Orban wrote on X that "you cannot make peace from a comfortable armchair in Brussels. Even if the rotating EU-Presidency has no mandate to negotiate on behalf of the EU, we cannot sit back and wait for the war to miraculously end."
Putin said their talks had been 'very intensive' while Orban said his country was one of just a handful that could meet with both sides. The Hungarian PM also said he had urged Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky to 'take a break', have a ceasefire and 'continue negotiations' - although admitted the response to his suggestion had been 'frank'.
The 75th NATO Summit in DC begins on Tuesday and continues until July 11, with leaders expected to focus on the Ukraine conflict among other issues. According to media reports, Kiev is expected to be told it is 'too corrupt' to join the alliance at the current time, while there is also set to be opposition to outgoing Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg's plan for a 'multi-year' military funding package for Ukraine - widely seen as a way to negate the impact of a potential Trump presidency.