Hungary wants to create an anti-Ukrainian alliance

“Orbán hopes to join forces with Andrej Babiš, whose right-wing populist party won the recent parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic, as well as with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, to coordinate their positions ahead of EU leaders' meetings, including preliminary consultations before the summit,” said Balazs Orban, political director and advisor to the Hungarian prime minister.

A strong political alliance is still a long way off, but its formation could significantly hamper the EU's efforts to provide financial and military support to Ukraine, Politico reports.

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“I think it will happen — and it will become more and more visible,” Orbán said when asked about the possibility of creating an alliance skeptical of Ukraine that would begin to act as a bloc in the European Council.

According to Orbán's representative, this would be a revival of the so-called Visegrad Four group, which included Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland when a Eurosceptic party was in power in Warsaw after 2015.

Then-Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki led the alliance, and the V4 group promoted strong external borders for the EU and opposed any mandatory relocation of migrants between member states.

The Visegrad Four alliance collapsed after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as Poland advocated a tough stance toward Moscow, while Hungary took the opposite position.

The new Visegrad alliance will have three members instead of four.

The current Prime Minister of Poland, Donald Tusk, is a supporter of Ukraine and is unlikely to enter into any alliance with Orbán.

However, Fico and Babiš supported the Hungarian leader's position on Ukraine, calling for dialogue with Moscow rather than economic pressure.

Babiš has been criticized for his public skepticism about further European aid to Kyiv, and the Czech foreign minister has warned that Babiš will act as Orbán's “puppet” at the European Council table.

Photo: inkorr.com.