Although Hungary is simply a associate of the EU and NATO, they openly sympathize with Russia. It is time for Hungary to decide who they want to be with.
Hungary, possibly the most controversial associate of the EU and NATO, is becoming a real threat to Euro-Atlantic unity. The fresh cooperation of Hungary with Russia, and especially with the Russian Orthodox Church, which mediated the alleged kidnapping of at least 11 Ukrainian POWs, further exacerbated the problem of Hungary's ambivalent attitude to the war in Ukraine
Hungary continues to keep close relations with Russia. According to U.S. Ambassador to this country, David Pressman, "supports Russian war device with various economical means". Budapest besides has geopolitical interests in Ukrainian Zakarpacie, where at least part of Ukrainian prisoners of war are kidnapped.
Hungary as a NATO associate country plans to participate in the upcoming Vilnius summit. Ukraine can only participate as an invited partner.
For now, NATO's alleged "open door" remains closed to Ukraine.
U.S. president Joseph Biden asked if the United States would support Ukraine's accelerated accession to NATO, and he replied: “No. due to the fact that they gotta meet the same standards. So we will not make this easy."
Biden said NATO was more than a military alliance, an alliance of values and principles. According to him, the socio-political situation in Ukraine does not let for speeding up the way to NATO membership.
Hungary uses the EU and NATO to affirm its sovereignty, while their interior and abroad policies work against both blocks. According to Daniel Hegedus of the George Marshall Centre, Hungary, despite belonging to the Euro-Atlantic community, "provide Russia strategical services through insignificant interventions".
Directed by the right-wing populist national-conservative political organization of president Viktor Orbán, his government frequently displays behaviour typical of autocratic kleptocracy. It has strong political, economical and individual ties to Moscow, as well as links with global organised crime. Orbán is associated with populist journalism, suppression of independent mass media and violation of academic freedom. It uses EU money to implement its grossly anti-European policy and blocks NATO's enlargement. His position on combating corruption, coupled with a deficiency of respect for the regulation of law in Hungary, has already led to the European Union freezing billions of euros of backing for the country.
The depth of his cooperation with the Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church is reflected in the delight Orbán expressed at the sight of the mosaic, which was originally to be found in the main FR Armed Forces temple. The images of Vladimir Putin, Sergei Szojgu, many Russians straight active in the illegal annexation of Crimea, and even Joseph Stalin were to “capture” the walls of the church in Patriot Park, Moscow, according to a plan that was postponed.
The values and principles on which the Euro-Atlantic institutions are built, Budapest uses it to block Ukraine's accelerated accession to NATO. But they besides supply a basis for voluntary withdrawal from the alliance of those countries that do not want to comply with them. Currently, neither NATO nor the EU have a mechanics to exclude their members, although they may leave the organisation on their own initiative.
