As the Kyiv Independent reported on Saturday under the banner “Orban declares Ukraine ‘enemy’ of Hungary” that “Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban criticized Ukraine for calling on the EU [to] halt imports of cheap Russian energy. ‘Anyone who says this is an enemy of Hungary, so Ukraine is our enemy,’ he said.”
Orban’s post acknowledging Hungary’s Russian energy dependence and articulating the threat it poses to his country’s interests is below.
Those who work to cut Hungary off from affordable energy violate our core interests. Let’s be clear: Ukraine is positioning itself not as an opponent, but as an enemy of Hungary. pic.twitter.com/WRRsM0cxUy — Orbán Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) February 8, 2026
U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R-SC), a veteran lawmaker who serves on four Senate Committees including the Judiciary and Veterans Affairs, responded to the report from Kyiv: “It is sad that Orbán clearly prefers to be a puppet to Putin instead of a friend to NATO. That’s something the people of Hungary should consider as they head to the polls this spring.”
It is sad that Orbán clearly prefers to be a puppet to Putin instead of a friend to NATO. That’s something the people of Hungary should consider as they head to the polls this spring. https://t.co/A3aO95N8xa
— Senator Thom Tillis (@SenThomTillis) February 8, 2026
Hungary is a NATO member, but it hasn’t provided direct military aid to Ukraine—Orban has blocked EU packages and refused weapon shipments or troop involvement.
Note: President Donald Trump has for years called Orban a “friend” and has praised Orban for his hardline approach to immigration and “anti-woke” policies (Orban banned Pride events last year).
This year, Trump again endorsed Orban — for the upcoming parliamentary election on April 12 — and invited Hungary to join his newly created Board of Peace. Orban accepted the invitation which includes an entry fee of $1 billion.
U.S. political scientist Ian Bremmer replied to Tillis: “more likely than not Orban is voted out.”
Note: Bremer is a close observer of geopolitics in this part of the world. In July 2017, Bremmer broke the news in his weekly client newsletter that President Trump had a “second, previously undisclosed” meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the G20 summit in Hamburg. Trump initially denied his meeting with Putin and called Bremmer’s report “fake news.” However, then-White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders later confirmed the second meeting had occurred but that it did not last more than an hour and blamed news outlets for trying “to create a story that didn’t exist.”
The Fake News is becoming more and more dishonest! Even a dinner arranged for top 20 leaders in Germany is made to look sinister!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 19, 2017