Sibyha Was Surprised by Madiyar’s Statements – Orbán’s Politics Continue to Thrive

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Zibiga said he was surprised by the confrontational statements of the Hungarian premier regarding Ukraine. The trigger was Budapest's sharp statements against the Carpathian Integration Initiative and energy cooperation between the two countries, all taking place against the backdrop that Hungary is not ready to unblock new clusters for Ukraine on the path to the EU. According to the head of the Foreign Ministry, despite the fact that Viktor Orbán is no longer in power, his obstructive and isolationist policy in Hungary continues to thrive.

Zibiga wrote about this in his post on X, stressing that the reasons for Hungary's such categorical rejection remain unclear. The diplomat noted that the Carpathian Integration Initiative is aimed at developing the entire region and promotes prosperity and mutually beneficial projects for eight Carpathian countries.

"We are surprised by the ungrounded confrontational statements of the Prime Minister of Hungary regarding Ukraine. It seems that even though Viktor Orbán is no longer in power, his obstructive and isolationist policy continues to thrive," Andriy Zibiga wrote.

Separately, the head of Ukrainian diplomacy noted that the statements calling into question direct and mutually beneficial cooperation between Ukrainian and Hungarian energy companies, agreed upon by a bilateral memorandum, were surprising. In his words, when politics intrudes into pragmatic business, it never yields anything good.

"Orbánism has brought no benefit to Hungary or the wider region in the past—and it will bring no benefit to anyone in the future," Andriy Zibiga noted.

Despite these statements, Zibiga stressed that Ukraine remains open to developing mutually beneficial, pragmatic, and respectful bilateral cooperation with Hungary.

The Magyar denied Hungary's participation in the Carpathian Initiative.

The trigger for Zibiga's reaction was the statements of Hungarian Prime Minister Peter (Péter) Mediar/Madar, who publicly questioned Hungary's accession to the Carpathian Eight and criticized the energy agreements with the Ukrainian side. The Magyar insisted that Hungary is not a member of this format, and any international energy cooperation is impossible without the involvement of the Hungarian government.

The situation unfolds against a backdrop of overall escalation in Budapest's rhetoric toward Kyiv. The new Hungarian cabinet, which came to power after the victory of the 'Tisa' party in the parliamentary elections, initially promised more active cooperation with European partners. However, recent statements indicate a continued cautious, and at times confrontational, course on a number of Ukrainian issues.

Earlier Informator reported that Naftogaz reached an agreement with Hungarian MOL on storing petroleum products for Ukraine—the memorandum provides for building facilities to store fuel near the shared border to increase resilience of supplies amid Russian attacks on fuel infrastructure. At the same time, Prime Minister Péter Madar/Madar spoke against these agreements, stating that while his government is in power, Ukraine's oil storage in the country will not exist.