PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron received far-right Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the Elysee Palace on Monday for a working dinner where he underscored the need for European “unity” on the Ukraine war, the president’s office said.
Unlike most European leaders, Orban has been openly critical of the bloc’s stance on the conflict, slamming what he has described as an “indirect war” being waged against Russia while calling for a cease-fire.
At Monday’s dinner, Macron “reaffirmed the need for the unity of European countries in their support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression, particularly via the strict application of sanctions,” according to the president’s team.
The pair also touched on the accession of Finland and Sweden into NATO.
Hungary and Turkiye are the only two members of the 30-nation alliance not to have ratified both countries’ bids.
Budapest is highly reliant on Russian energy imports, and Orban has vowed to maintain ties with the Kremlin while refusing to send weapons to Kyiv. He has also criticized sanctions against Moscow, though Hungary eventually sided with its EU partners on the matter.
Hungary is also engaged in a long-running row with the European Union over concerns in Brussels about corruption.
In December, Brussels froze billions of euros’ worth of funds pending anti-corruption reforms expected from Budapest.
Also on the agenda at Monday’s dinner, which came ahead of a European Council meeting later this month, were the issues of industrial competitiveness and migration, with Orban having come under fire in the past for his policies against non-European refugees.
Macron pushes European ‘unity’ in sit-down with Orban
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Macron pushes European ‘unity’ in sit-down with Orban
Zelensky says Russia using Belarus territory to circumvent Ukrainian defenses
- While President Lukashenko has vowed to commit no troops to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, he allowed Russia to use Belarusian territory to launch its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine
KYIV: President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that Russia was using ordinary apartment blocks on the territory of its ally Belarus to attack Ukrainian targets and circumvent Kyiv’s defenses.
The Kremlin used Belarusian territory to launch its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine and Belarus remains a steadfast ally, though longstanding President Alexander Lukashenko has vowed to commit no troops to the conflict.
“We note that the Russians are trying to bypass our defensive interceptor positions through the territory of neighboring Belarus. This is risky for Belarus,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram after a military staff meeting.
“It is unfortunate that Belarus is surrendering its sovereignty in favor of Russia’s aggressive ambitions.”
Zelensky said Ukrainian intelligence had observed that Belarus was deploying equipment to carry out its attacks “in Belarusian settlements near the border, including on residential buildings.
“Antennae and other equipment are located on the roofs of ordinary five-story apartment buildings, which help guide ‘Shaheds’ (Russian drones) to targets in our western regions. This is an absolute disregard for human lives, and it is important that Minsk stops playing with this.”
The Russian and Belarusian defense ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Zelensky said the staff meeting also discussed ways of financing interceptor drones, which officials in Kyiv see as the best economically viable means of tackling Russian drone attacks, which have grown in intensity in recent months.
The president said the Ukrainian military’s general staff had been charged with working out changes to strategy in fending off air attacks “to defend infrastructure and frontline positions.”
Lukashenko this month said Russia’s Oreshnik ballistic missile system, described by Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin as impossible to intercept, had been deployed to Belarus and entered active combat duty.
An assessment by two US researchers, reported by Reuters on Friday, said Moscow was likely stationing the nuclear-capable hypersonic Oreshnik at a former air base in eastern Belarus, a development that could bolster Russia’s ability to deliver missiles across Europe.
