EU civil war erupts as Hungary’s presence in bloc questioned | World | News

A fresh row involving Hungary has exposed cracks within the European Union’s unity.

Poland’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Władyslaw Teofil Bartoszewski, hit out at Viktor Orban after the Hungarian Prime Minister accused Warsaw of conducting “hypocritical policies” with Russia.

During a press conference, Mr Bartoszewski questioned Hungary’s position within NATO and the EU, as he said: “We do not do business with Russia, unlike Prime Minister Orbán, who is on the margins of international society – both in the European Union and NATO.

“Why doesn’t [Orbán] create a Union with Putin and some authoritarian states of this type? If you don’t want to be a member of a club, you can always leave.

“I don’t really understand why Hungary wants to remain a member of organisations that it doesn’t like so much and which supposedly treat it so badly.”

Mr Orban’s current stance is anti-EU, anti-Ukraine and anti-Poland, Mr Bartoszewski added as he noted Budapest has been blocking for several months the release of billions from the European Peace Facility (EPF), citing various reasons over the past year.

Last Monday, the threat was issued once again in the midst of concerns about a shortage of crude oil supplies in Hungary and Slovakia as a consequence of Ukraine’s sanctions on Russia’s Lukoil.

The row between the two eastern European countries erupted after Mr Orban lashed out on Saturday at the policies adopted by Poland, the EU and the Western world as a whole towards Russia.

Mr Orban, who was visiting a Romanian region with a large ethnic Hungarian population, told Radio Europa Libera Romania: “Poles are conducting hypocritical policies. They criticise us for our relations with the Russians, and they themselves conduct business with Russia through intermediaries.”

The Hungarian Prime Minister is growing isolated within the EU as he retains ties with Russia despite its illegal invasion of Ukraine.

Most recently he travelled to Russia on a self-styled peace mission, which drew massive criticism from Brussels.