NATO ambassadors met on October 19 in Budapest as concerns grow over Hungary’s relations with Russia following talks between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week.
U.S. Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman told RFE/RL that the diplomats have “security concerns” over the “deepening relationship" between Russia and the NATO and EU member.
The ambassadors, including a representative of Sweden, whose membership in NATO is pending, gathered in the Hungarian capital just days after Orban met Putin at a forum in China where they discussed bilateral cooperation in natural gas and crude oil transportation as well as nuclear energy.
“It is worrying that Hungary has decided to contact Putin in this way,” Pressman said.
“We see Hungary as an ally, but at the same time we also see that Hungary is deepening its relationship with Russia despite its brutal war in Ukraine,” he added.
Pressman also said that Washington expects these “legitimate security concerns” to be taken seriously by the Hungarian government.
Orban was the first leader of an EU country to meet with Putin since the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant accusing the Russian president of a war crime over the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.
Days earlier, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto visited Moscow for an energy forum and said that Budapest has no intention of reducing purchases of Russian oil supplied through the Druzhba pipeline even though the EU has sanctioned the Russian oil sector.
Orban has spoken out against the Western sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine and has opposed plans to grant more aid to Ukraine.
In his recent meeting with Putin, Orban reportedly told the Russian leader it was crucial for all of Europe, including Hungary, that the flow of refugees, sanctions, and fighting stop.
Orban’s strengthening of ties with Russia has resulted in strains in Hungary’s relations with NATO and EU allies in recent years.