Hungarian Prime Minister Calls Ukraine a 'Financially Non-Existent Country'

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Photo: AP

"Ukraine is, in fact, a financially non-existent country. The decline in economic indicators is huge, which is completely understandable because of the war. It is obvious that Ukraine cannot be financially self-sufficient," he said. According to the Prime Minister, the question is whether the West can feed Ukraine. "And the moment the United States and Europe say 'no' to that question, the war will end," he said.

"We pay pensions, bills to Ukraine, we maintain state institutions, health care, education. And these are huge sums, tens of billions of euros, that are being siphoned off from the European economy. And it is clear that this cannot continue indefinitely," Orban added. Hungary's prime minister noted that his country also participates in financing Ukraine through the EU's common budget, despite the worsening situation of the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia (a region in western Ukraine that was disputed between Czechoslovakia, Hungary and the Soviet Union in the 20th century).

In another development, Politico cited leaked Pentagon documents as saying that Hungary may have secretly allowed NATO allies to use its airspace to deliver weapons to Ukraine, despite a ban it had previously announced. “Leaked US documents also show that Hungary, which shares a short border with Ukraine, may have secretly allowed allies to use its airspace to transport weapons to the front, despite promises to ban such shipments,” the article said./.