A pro-government reply to Ukrainian accusations
December 30th, 2022A pro-government website lists a series of facts to debunk the Ukrainian accusation that Prime Minister Orbán treats Ukraine with ‘pathological disregard’ (see BudaPost, December 29).
In a detailed but unsigned post, Mandiner describes the Hungarian approach as an effort to help Ukraine rather than to disregard it, as claimed by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday. Mandiner maintains that PM Orbán condemned the Russian aggression from the very start and expressed solidarity with the people of Ukraine. Hungary has sent billions of forints worth of humanitarian aid to Ukraine, and is rebuilding childcare institutions, with the first preschool centre already operational. In addition, Hungary has received over a million Ukrainian refugees, most of whom went on towards western Europe, but whilst here travelled free of charge through Hungary by train and received shelter and food if needed – in what is still an ongoing humanitarian relief operation on an unprecedented scale Those who choose to remain in Hungary have access to the national health and education services as well as financial support from the state. The Hungarian government has agreed to all sanctions imposed on Russia by the European Union, albeit with a few derogations, given its dependence on Russian gas and oil supplies. During her recent visit to Kyiv, President Katalin Novák of Hungary assured further Hungarian support for Ukrainian grain exports, buying Ukrainian cereals and forwarding them to poor countries. Mandiner leaves it to the readers to decide if Hungary is actually disregarding or helping Ukraine.