Viktor Orban and European lawmakers have traded barbs in the European parliament, with the Hungarian prime minister urging the bloc to change while top EU officials chided Budapest for its Russia-friendly stance and backsliding on democracy.
The clash as Orban -- Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest ally within the European Union -- addressed the parliament in Strasbourg on October 9 came as little surprise with the two sides having sparred for months over aid to Ukraine, migration, allegations of the misuse of bloc funds and breaches of its laws.
Orban used his speech, which was interrupted at times by shouts and singing from European parliamentarians, to continue his calls for a hard line in the face of a "migration crisis", arguing that "the European Union needs to change."
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen followed Orban at the podium and accused his government of "just throwing problems over your neighbor's fence," a reference to Budapest's early release of more than 1,000 convicted people smugglers and human traffickers.
SEE ALSO: Brussels Frustrated With Hungary Over Russian Visa Decision That Could Let In SpiesShe also criticized Hungary's policy of issuing visas to Russian nationals without more thorough background checks compared to other nationals before chiding him on hindering the flow of aid to Ukraine as it battles invading Russian troops.
"There is only one path to achieve a just peace for Ukraine and for Europe, we must continue to empower Ukraine's resistance with political, financial and military support," von der Leyen said.
Meanwhile, the joint leader of the Greens-European Free Alliance, Terry Reintke, was more blunt in her message to Orban: "You are not welcome here," she told him.
A day earlier, Orban told a press conference in Strasbourg that the EU's current strategy of sending massive aid to Ukraine "does not work."
"If you cannot win on the battlefield -- you have to communicate, you have to negotiate, you have to have a cease-fire," he said.
Orban was in Strasbourg to mark his country's six-month stint in the rotating EU presidency.
The populist Orban government has maintained ties with Moscow despite Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Orban has opposed aid to Kyiv and has also angered the EU with his increasingly authoritarian rule and his ties to China.