Orbán is ‘Trojan horse’ for Russian interests, says Czech minister

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is a ‘Trojan horse’ who is breaking European unity and protecting Russian interests, said Czech European Affairs Minister Martin Dvořák on Sunday after Orbán blocked financial aid for Ukraine during last week’s European Council summit.

“Today, Orbán is that Trojan horse, who is intensely and unfortunately more and more effectively breaking that unity and trying to show that we should disregard Ukraine,” Dvořák said during a discussion broadcasted by CNN Prime News on Sunday.

According to the Czech EU minister, Orbán is blackmailing Europe, and he abuses his veto power.

During the European Council leaders’ meeting, Orbán left the room, enabling the summit to approve the opening of negotiation talks with Ukraine. However, he blocked the debate about the EU’s long-term budget revision, which included about €50 billion in support for Ukraine.

Orbán faces criticism for allegedly using the Ukrainian issue as leverage in an attempt to unlock access to EU funds, which were frozen due to the current Hungarian government’s threat to the rule of law in the country. Last week, the European Commission decided to unlock €10 billion as Hungary published judicial reforms. However, around €21 billion remains frozen.

“I think the real name (for the Hungarian approach) is blackmail. I think the real name is the abuse of veto rights, not to protect Hungary’s national interests, but to protect Russia’s interests,” Dvořák said.

Dvořák’s debate partner, Alena Schillerová, from the opposition ANO party, refrained from commenting on Orbán’s criticism and questioned whether it was even appropriate to include the topic of accession talks for Ukraine in the summit at this time. She pointed out that Ukraine needs to undertake several reform steps, such as approving judicial reform or subsidy policy.

(Aneta Zachová | Euractiv.cz)