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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said he was seeking to “redefine” the terms of Nato membership due to his long-standing opposition to aiding Ukraine against Russia’s war.
“Our lawyers and officers are working [to define] how Hungary can exist as a Nato member without taking part in Nato operations outside Nato territory,” Orbán told national radio on Friday.
The Hungarian leader has refused to send military aid to Kyiv and has repeatedly delayed EU sanctions on Russia in response to Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He is also adamantly opposed to Nato training Ukrainian soldiers in Ukraine.
“There have not been many situations in the history of Nato when a member state would stick to the basic idea of Nato as openly and clearly as Hungary does now, and therefore . . . its position within the military alliance would have to be redefined,” Orbán said.
His position is that Ukrainian forces cannot win on the battlefield, that the west should avoid a conflict with Russia by any means and that Kyiv should agree to an immediate ceasefire. The US has said a ceasefire now would amount to capitulation.
Orbán’s comments appear to have come in response to recent proposals by several Nato members for the alliance to train Ukrainian troops in Ukraine rather than in other European countries. They also come six weeks before Nato’s annual leaders summit in Washington where the alliance is seeking to draw up a fresh long-term support strategy for Ukraine’s military.
The Hungarian military has participated in Nato missions abroad, including in Afghanistan and Iraq, and has led the alliance’s KFOR peacekeeping effort in Kosovo.
Orbán acknowledged his position was turning Hungary into an outlier within the alliance but said he refused to back down. “It is as if everyone is already in a different future. They simply refuse to consider these arguments beyond a polite hearing,” he said. “And war planning is going on.”
He added: “We indicated in advance that we do not approve of this, and we do not want to participate in financial or armament support, not even within the framework of Nato. Therefore, our situation is a strange ‘we are there, but we are not’ situation. I don’t know how long this can be maintained.”
Hungary is considered a “non-participant” country, he added, but it is working on a clearer definition.
“If we were to opt out, our participation in Nato’s military structure and our situation would also change,” he said.
Nato did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Additional reporting by Henry Foy in Florence
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