Ukraine receives surprise attack from Hungary as Orban claims control of ENTIRE Western region

Some regions of Ukraine could be recognised as “traditionally Hungarian” under a series of tough demands from Budapest that have raised fears that Ukraine’s EU membership is at risk.

Hungary took over the rotating presidency of the EU Council for the first time on Monday, in a historic moment for the former Warsaw Pact state – but its new position has heightened concerns within the largely pro-Ukrainian bloc about Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s attitude toward its eastern neighbor.

The EU officially opened accession negotiations with Ukraine in December 2023; at the time, Orban said: “Ukraine’s accession to the EU is a wrong decision.

“Hungary does not want to be part of this wrong decision and has therefore kept its distance from today’s decision.”

Hungary eyes Transcarpathia as Russia moves closer to eastern Ukraine

GB News

A few weeks ago, on June 21, the EU opened accession talks with Ukraine, a move hailed as “historic” by the bloc’s top lawmakers – with one saying that “the future of Ukraine and its citizens lies within the European Union.”

Hungary, which has closer ties to Russia than other EU members and does not supply arms to kyiv, has delayed the start of negotiations, citing concerns over the rights and treatment of ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine, diplomats said.

Budapest’s record on the Ukraine issue and its ties with Moscow prompted the EU to quickly adopt new sanctions against Russia before it took over the bloc’s presidency.

But it is the issue of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine that is causing the most concern in Volodymyr Zelensky’s war-torn country.

UKRAINE UNDER THREAT – READ MORE:

Hungary has made a series of demands to Ukraine in order for it to move towards EU membership.

Reuters

Ukrainian media reported that Hungary had made a series of demands on Ukraine if it wanted to obtain its consent to join the EU – one of them being the treatment of “ethnic Hungarians” in Transcarpathia, Ukraine’s westernmost oblast.

According to Orban’s administration, ethnic Hungarians should be able to speak and use Hungarian in official contexts, including in administrative services and education, which runs counter to Ukraine’s attempts to strengthen the use of Ukrainian over minority or foreign languages in the country.

Budapest has demanded that Transcarpathia be recognised as “traditionally Hungarian” – a move that would only further undermine Ukrainian territorial claims after a decade-long campaign by Putin’s Russia against five eastern oblasts.

In 2014, Russia annexed Crimea – and then, after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Putin’s forces did the same in four regions of eastern Ukraine: Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhia – an act rejected by most UN member states as illegal.

Putin also tried to claim Ukrainian territory

Reuters

Russian ceasefire ambitions also threaten Ukraine’s eastern regions

GB News

The full return of those sought after 2022 has been at the heart of Putin’s conditions for a “ceasefire” in Ukraine – proposals seen as tantamount to surrender in the eyes of Ukrainians.

The “maximalist” conditions – in stark contrast to those demanded by Ukraine – reflect Putin’s confidence that his troops have gained the upper hand in the conflict, as their grip tightens on Ukraine’s besieged east.

Putin said: “As soon as they declare in kyiv that they are ready for such a decision and begin a real withdrawal of troops from these regions, and also officially announce the abandonment of their plans to join NATO – from our side, immediately, literally at the same minute, an order will follow to cease fire and start negotiations.

“I repeat, we will do it immediately. Naturally, we will simultaneously ensure the unhindered and safe withdrawal of Ukrainian units and formations.”

Ukraine, however, called these conditions “absurd.”