Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban has accused Ukraine and the European Union of attempting to push his country and Slovakia into a war with Russia.
The PM said Hungary’s access to Russian natural gas has been limited since Ukraine and other European nations stopped the operation of a crucial pipeline.
Orban made the complaints after a meeting with President Recep Erdogan on Friday on the sidelines of the ongoing Antalya Diplomacy Forum.
In a video posted to X, Orban said Hungary’s eastern gas supply route has essentially been cut off, putting the blame on “Ukraine’s hostile actions.”
He noted that since the start of 2025, “the Ukrainians, colluding with Brussels bureaucrats, shut the major European gas pipeline running through their territory.”
The prime minister called the action “their way of putting pressure on Slovakia and us trying to force us into the Russia-Ukraine war.”
He said the country’s leadership would “defend the interests of the Hungarian people and resist the blackmail”, alleging that “Brussels wants to break the Hungarians.”
Orban, however, confirmed that Hungary is moving away from the east, and must now source its energy from the south.
Describing Turkey as “a crucial partner,” the PM said without the Turkish Stream, “Hungary’s secure energy supply would be unthinkable.”
TurkStream, which bypasses Ukraine, is an underwater pipeline that carries Russian gas to Turkey and Europe across the Black Sea.
