Hungarian officials ignored an invitation to a meeting of ambassadors and military attaches of NATO countries, the purpose of which was to discuss Hungarian policy "to promote ties with Russia and China," Politico reports. The summit was held on Wednesday, October 30, in Budapest.
"Hungary's recently announced policy of economic "neutrality" and its growing dependence on Moscow and Beijing's actions have implications for the security of the United States and Euro—Atlantic interests," US Ambassador to Budapest David Pressman told reporters after the event.
According to a diplomat from one of the NATO countries, Hungary's recent actions and rhetoric cause "serious concern." The meeting "would have been a useful opportunity for Hungary to explain itself to its allies, but its representatives were absent from the discussion," he said.
Against this background, the newspaper writes, the disappointment of NATO allies "reaches a boiling point," as Budapest "continues to flirt with Russia." There are growing fears in the alliance that Viktor Orban could turn the country into an "unreliable partner."
Despite this, Hungary participates in intelligence sharing and discussions with other members of the bloc.
"In fact, every ally has full access to all NATO documents, including secret ones," said former assistant Secretary General of the alliance Camille Grand.
According to him, if Hungary at some point "expresses sympathy for Russia's views," it will become problematic to discuss these data, but so far this has not happened.
Orban promotes the concept of economic neutrality, including "a departure from the traditional Western course."
"We must preserve our relations in the East and the West," he said in September.
This has led to difficulties in Hungary's relations with other NATO countries and The European Union, which advocates assistance to Ukraine and sanctions against Russia, the newspaper notes. Hungary is blocking EU plans to provide military support to Kiev and making it difficult to use profits from blocked Russian assets for these purposes. This summer, Hungary refused to participate in the NATO mission in Ukraine.
According to one of the NATO officials, despite the differences on a number of key issues, Hungary continues to support the activities of the North Atlantic Alliance, RBC said.