Budapest/Kyiv — Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó issued a sharp rebuke of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday, accusing him of harboring an “anti-Hungarian obsession” after Kyiv alleged that Hungarian drones had violated Ukraine’s western airspace.
Zelensky claimed the drones “may have been conducting reconnaissance on the industrial potential of Ukraine’s border areas.” Responding on X, Szijjártó dismissed the accusations outright, saying: “President Zelensky is losing his mind to his anti-Hungarian obsession. He is now starting to see things that aren’t there.”
Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga swiftly countered, writing that “no amount of your attacks on our President will change what we – and everyone – see.” Sibiga accused Budapest of “hypocrisy and moral degradation” and alleged that Hungary was working “openly and covertly against Ukraine and the rest of Europe, serving as a Kremlin lackey.”
The latest exchange came hours after Kyiv declared three senior Hungarian military officials persona non grata, a move Szijjártó denounced as further evidence of Ukraine’s “anti-Hungarian policy.”
Longstanding Tensions
Relations between Hungary and Ukraine have been fraught for years. Budapest has refused to supply weapons to Ukraine or back sweeping EU sanctions against Russia, arguing such measures would undermine Hungarian national interests.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has also accused Ukraine of discriminating against the Hungarian minority in the Transcarpathia region and jeopardizing Hungary’s energy security by threatening the Druzhba pipeline, a key route for Russian oil to Central Europe. Earlier this year, Hungary blocked the start of EU accession talks with Ukraine, instead urging negotiations to resolve the war rather than further sanctions or military escalation.
Warning of Escalation
Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York this week, Szijjártó cautioned that as long as the conflict continues, “events will occur that carry the risk of escalation” between NATO and Russia. He reiterated Budapest’s position that “peace is the only way to bring that risk down to zero.”
The diplomatic clash underscores the widening divide between Kyiv and Budapest at a time when Western unity remains critical to Ukraine’s war effort.
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