War-torn Ukraine has been accused of interfering in another country’s elections. Ukraine’s neighboring country Hungary has made this allegation. Hungary’s foreign minister on Wednesday accused Ukraine’s leadership of interfering in the upcoming Hungarian election. However, his Ukrainian counterpart has denied the allegations.
In a video released on social media, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Sizzarto claimed that there was “constant coordination between representatives of the Hungarian Left and the Ukrainian government”. Elections are due in Hungary on April 3. Peter Sizzarto said Ukraine was attempting to influence the election in favor of a coalition of opposition parties.
However, Sizzarto did not provide any evidence to support the claim. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently made several comments. He harshly criticized the Hungarian government’s approach to the war.
Hungary, unlike most of its allies in the European Union, refused to arm Ukraine. The Hungarian prime minister on Friday rejected an emotional appeal by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for arms supplies to Ukraine and sanctions on Russia’s energy sector.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in a video posted on social media that Zelensky’s request was “against the interests of Hungary” and that imposing sanctions on energy from Russia would mean “Hungary’s economy will slow down and in some time will end.”
Its government has also actively opposed imposing sanctions against Russian energy imports, arguing that doing so would deeply damage its economy.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is seen as the Kremlin’s closest ally in the European Union. Zelensky said, “Listen, Victor, do you know what is happening in Mariupol? I want to say this frankly that you have to decide for yourself which side you are on.”
In Sunday’s Hungarian election, Viktor Orban will seek a fourth consecutive term in what polls show will be a contest since taking power in 2010.
During its 12-year rule, Viktor Orban’s government has forged deep economic and diplomatic ties with Russia under President Vladimir Putin, and deepened Hungary’s reliance on Russian fossil fuel and nuclear power technology.
Viktor Orban’s right-wing Fedj party has campaigned as a guarantor of Hungary’s peace and security amid the Ukraine crisis. While the opposition parties have been wrongly depicted as the target of dragging Hungary into the conflict on the side of Ukraine.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Sizzarto claimed that Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dimitro Kuleba had contacted the Ukrainian ambassador to Budapest to discuss how to influence the Hungarian election. Peter Sizzarto said without providing evidence that opposition parties seeking to defeat his prime minister had promised to supply arms to Ukraine and cut Russian gas and oil imports if elected. But speaking to Avropiska Pravda newspaper on Wednesday, Kuleba denied the allegations.