“The world has witnessed the atrocities of Russia’s war. And yet, there are still some who blame this war not on the invader, but the invaded,” von der Leyen said of Hungary. “There are still some who blame this war not on [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s lust for power but on Ukraine’s thirst for freedom. So, I want to ask them, would they ever blame the Hungarians for the Soviet invasion in 1956?” she said. In his response, Orbán rejected this comparison out of hand.

“Any analogy and comparison of the Hungarian freedom fighters of 1956 with Ukraine is a mistake and insults the memory of the Hungarian freedom fighters of 1956,” Orbán retorted. “1956 and the Russo-Ukraine war have nothing in common,” Orbán said flatly. “In the name of the Hungarian freedom fighters, I reject all false and misleading historical analogies.”

But von der Leyen also had other areas of concern, and criticized the Orbán government for easing visa restrictions for Russian nationals.

“How can it be that the Hungarian Government invites Russian nationals into our Union without additional security checks,” she asked. The EC President said this made the new Hungarian visa scheme a security risk, “not only for Hungary but for all member states. This is not defending Europe’s sovereignty,” she said. “This is a backdoor for foreign interference.”

Orbán acknowledged that the change in visa restrictions had nearly doubled the amount of Russians working in Hungary. While previously there had been around 3,000, the visa change enabled roughly another 3,000 Russians to work in Hungary, which he said brought the total closer to 7,000. However, Orbán noted that this still paled in comparison to the number of Russians working in Germany, which amounted to nearly 300,000.

Von der Leyen also singled out Hungary for its continued reliance on Russia for cheap energy. She referred to a meeting in Versailles following Russia’s invasion in February 2022, where EU leaders agreed to “diversify away from Russian fossil fuels as soon as possible. Not everyone has acted on the Versailles commitments,” she said. “Instead of looking for alternative sources, one member state in particular just looked for separate ways to buy fossil fuels from Russia.”

“Hungary trades transparently,” Orbán replied. “But what about your countries?” He insisted that other member states also continued to trade with Russia by circumventing sanctions through third parties in Asia. Rolling out some figures, Hungary’s PM claimed that every month the EU exported USD 1 billion more to certain Central Asian countries than it did before Russia invaded. “German, French, Spanish companies, this is how they circumvent the sanctions,” he said.

With regard to energy, Orbán said that Western countries also continued to purchase Russia oil via refineries in Turkey and India to the tune of USD 8.5 bln since the outbreak of the war. In 2023, he said Western countries bought 44% more Russian crude than the year prior.

“Your companies paid USD 1.7 bln in tax revenue to the Russia budget,” he said. “And you criticize us?” Orbán emphasized. “This is hypocrisy.”

Meanwhile, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó noted that the TurkStream pipeline that ships Russian gas to Turkey via the Black Sea “may help not only Hungary, but other countries of Central Europe if they face a serious situation in case there is no transit via Ukraine,” at the St. Petersburg International Gas Forum on Oct. 10. A five-year deal between Kyiv and Moscow on Russian gas transit via Ukraine to Europe will expire on Dec. 31, and is unlikely to be renewed.

This article was first published in the Budapest Business Journal print issue of October 18, 2024.