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Orban sees Ukraine trying to get even with Hungary over blocked EU bid

As the prime minister stressed, "Kiev must accept that they are not the ones to tell the Hungarian people what to think"

BUDAPEST, July 3. /TASS/. Ukraine is trying to get back at Hungary after Budapest blocked its accession to the European Union, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said, commenting on reports that Ukrainian special services have been trying to influence public opinion in his country.

"Ukrainians are increasingly attacking Hungary because we stopped Ukraine's EU accession [at a recent summit] in Brussels. Ukrainians must understand that Hungary does not support Ukraine's EU membership for fundamental and strategic reasons: we do not want war and we do not want the European, including the Hungarian, economy to be destroyed. Kiev must accept that they are not the ones to tell the Hungarian people what to think!" Orban wrote in a post on Facebook (Facebook is banned in Russia due to its ownership by Meta, which has been designated as extremist).

Earlier, the minister of the Hungarian prime minister’s office, Gergely Gulyas, said that Ukrainian special services had attempted "to establish contact with the Hungarian press and journalists to influence public opinion" in the country. "There has been increasing pressure on the Hungarian government from Brussels and Kiev, and this affects national security," he stated.

Hungary resolutely opposes Ukraine’s accession to the EU and NATO and still deliberately refuses to provide it with military assistance.