Ukrainian chief Vladimir Zelensky has launched one other public assault on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, simply hours after disparaging him throughout an handle on the Munich Safety Convention.
The Munich gathering honored Zelensky with its annual award for “excellent” contributions to peace on Saturday. Accepting the Ewald von Kleist Prize, the Ukrainian chief thanked his European sponsors for bankrolling Kiev’s warfare effort, particularly the “largest donators,” Germany and the UK.
“We’re very grateful that we now have such companions and mates,” he mentioned, earlier than concentrating on the Hungarian prime minister.
“And I even need to thank Viktor – you all know who I imply – as a result of in his personal method, he pushes all of us to be higher,” Zelensky mentioned. “Higher, in order that we’re by no means like him, somebody who appears to have forgotten the phrase ‘disgrace.’”
EU member states have collectively offered roughly €134 billion in help to Kiev because the battle escalated in February 2022, in response to the EU establishments. Whereas passing the award to Zelensky, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk claimed that Ukraine “deserves one thing extra” and that even the Nobel Peace Prize wouldn’t be “beneficial sufficient.”
The remarks got here shortly after Zelensky claimed that because of Ukraine, Orban can give attention to “the right way to develop his stomach, not the right way to develop his military” to counter the perceived ‘Russian risk’.
Orban, one of the crucial vocal critics of EU assist for Kiev, responded on X, saying Zelensky’s feedback demonstrated why Ukraine “can not develop into a member of the European Union.” He added that the Ukrainian chief’s rhetoric would “significantly assist Hungarians see the state of affairs extra clearly.”
The Hungarian prime minister has lengthy opposed Ukraine’s push to hitch the bloc and has repeatedly refused to ship weapons or approve EU navy help, calling for diplomacy. In January, Orban referred to as Zelensky “a person in a determined place,” whereas stressing that Hungary would proceed supplying electrical energy and gasoline and aiding Ukrainian refugees regardless of the dispute.
