BUDAPEST, May 5. /TASS/. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said that he was forced into an open conflict with Vladimir Zelensky because he heard a blatant threat in his words.

Speaking in parliament, he stressed that no one can tell Budapest what decision it is to make on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union.

The Hungarian prime minister noted that until recently he has been trying to avoid spats with Zelensky and ignore his provocative remarks because he wanted to preserve "what can still be preserved" in relations between the two countries. But he had to step away from this rule last weekend after Zelensky had expressed displeasure with Hungary’s referendum on Ukraine’s admission to the EU and stated that Orban "is doing dangerous things."

According to Orban, he "heard a threat in these words." "In international politics, this can be interpreted as a serious threat and no one can threaten Hungarians. We cannot tolerate such threats," he explained. "I had to take this step and get into an open conflict, which can have serious consequences. But I take responsibility for that. The point is that we must speak straight with the Ukrainians and tell them that their actions are not in our interests," he stated.

The Hungarian leader said that he knows that "Zelensky agreed with Brussels that his country would be admitted to the European Union by 2030" and wants the Hungarians to back this decision. Moreover, Zelensky hopes that Hungary’s Brussels-supported opposition party Tisza would form a pro-Ukrainian," he added.

"Let us be honest! Those who are Brussels’s agents are Zelensky’s friends. But we must make it clear that neither Kiev nor Brussels would ever tell the Hungarians how they can exercise their rights under the European Union’s laws," Orban emphasized.

Referendum in Hungary

Responding to Zelensky’s May 4 remarks, Orban stated that "what the Hungarian people think is not decided by the president in Kyiv or the bureaucrats in Brussels."

"There is no Ukrainian EU accession without Hungary. Every Hungarian will have their say on this. Whether you like it or not. That’s how we do things here," he wrote on his X page.

Hungary is holding a referendum on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union. The referendum was organized by the Hungarian government, which insists that Kiev’s hasty admission to the EU would do irreparable harm to the association’s economy and drag it into a conflict with Russia.

The prime minister called on Hungarian citizens to take part in the voting, saying that this "will determine Hungary’s future for decades to come."

Their mailing of ballot papers began on April 14 and will run until the end of May. The Hungarian government intends to take the results of the referendum into account during talks with the EU leadership.