Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register BUDAPEST, April 6 (Reuters) – The Hungarian Foreign Ministry summoned Ukraine’s ambassador on Wednesday amid offensive comments from Kyiv over Budapest’s stance on the Russian invasion. Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, in a statement issued three days after the re-election of nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, said Hungary had condemned the Russian invasion, recognized Ukraine’s sovereignty and accepted hundreds of thousands of refugees. “It’s time for Ukrainian leaders to stop their insults to Hungary and to recognize the will of the Hungarian people,” Szijjarto said in a statement, referring to Sunday’s landslide victory in the elections. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register “This is not our war, so we want it and we will stay out of it,” Szijjarto added, reiterating the stance that helped Orban win a fourth consecutive term. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that Orban was afraid of Russian influence and that he would have to choose between Moscow and the “other world”. read more Orban, who easily won what pollsters thought was a secret ballot shortly before election day, condemned the Russian invasion, which the Kremlin describes as a “special military operation” and did not veto EU sanctions. against Moscow. However, he refrained from directly criticizing President Vladimir Putin and said he did not agree with the sanctions, rejecting the idea of restricting oil and gas imports from Russia, saying it would damage Hungary’s economy. The EU has moved swiftly and decisively to impose an unprecedented range of sanctions on Moscow since the invasion, but has struggled to stay united in banning oil and gas imports because so many Member States are heavily dependent on Russian energy. Orb .n won a landslide victory in Sunday’s election as voters backed his self-proclaimed vision of a conservative, free state and withdrew concerns about Budapest’s ten-year close business ties with Moscow. A thorn in the side of European Union authorities in Brussels, Orban has rarely faced criticism from his nationalist allies in neighboring Poland for his cautious stance on the war. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Krisztina Than? curated by John Stonestreet Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
