Hungary’s History and It’s Ties to the War in Ukraine

In the past, Hungary has had an interesting relationship with Russia. For over 4 decades after World War II, Hungary was under Russian control. This means that the two nations have had a fairly close relationship in the recent past. It is also important to note Hungary’s past with Ukraine. The most recent tension has come from a Ukrainian law passed in 2017. This law basically made it so that no minority cultures or languages could be publicly practiced or spoken, and could only be done so in small groups or private spaces. This created heavy discourse because this took more away from the few rights that minorities in the Ukraine did have.
The history between the three countries is crucial to consider when it comes to discussing Hungary’s current position. Now, Hungary being with NATO, an interesting situation has been created. Since the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine, NATO has vouched for military support for Ukraine.

However, Hungary does not believe that offering military support for Ukraine is the right course of action. They believe rather than choosing a side directly in this war, more efforts should be made to stop the fighting and attempt to create real lasting peace between Ukraine and Russia. The Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated in an interview that “‘The task of the European Union is not to stand alongside either the Russians or the Ukrainians, but to stand between Russia and Ukraine’”(Politico).