Hungary-phobic Ukrainians would pummel PM Orban even for Biden's decision

The public is disappointed with Zelensky's performance at the NATO summit in Vilnius, but some say he is not at fault.

Magányos Zelenszkij VILNIUS, LITHUANIA - JULY 11: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his wife, the First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska participate in a family photo before a dinner hosted by Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda at the presidential palace during the NATO Summit, on July 11, 2023 in Vilnius, Lithuania. The summit is bringing together NATO members and partner countries heads of state from July 11-12 to chart the alliance's future, with Sweden's application for membership and Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine as major topics on the summit agenda. (Photo by Yves Herman - Pool/Getty Images) Fotó: Pool

However, Poroshenko noted that the partners should be thanked for the weapons and long-range missiles. He also said that there had been much discussion regarding the summit, with some blaming the government and others blaming Biden for the failure. But for who is actually at fault will have to be discussed after the war. The former president said that preparations for the NATO summit in Washington in a year's time should start now: meeting the conditions for the invitation, implementing judicial reform, defending democracy, and protecting human rights and press freedom. This is the responsibility of the Ukrainians.

Of course, in agreement with his successor, Poroshenko did not mention in his speech the obligation to observe minority rights, which NATO would also expect from Ukraine at the request of Hungary and Romania.

This is not by accident, since it was under his watch in 2017 that the measures making the use of minority languages in the country impossible began. During his term of office, first the exclusionary Education Act and then the Language Act were passed, which virtually bans the use of any other language. Finally, the authorities started to harass indigenous ethnic groups, including Hungarians, who protested against it.

Afghanistan playbook

The popular Telegram channels are not letting the Vilnius summit pass without a word. For example, Kartel, a mostly insider political information sharing channel, which is considered to have opposition leanings, bluntly states:

Rumors are spreading that behind the scenes there are an increasing number of people who claim that the Afghanistan playbook is what awaits Ukraine. Or in a better case scenario the Korean.

As they write, after the failure in Vilnius, this feeling increased tenfold and frustrations are rapidly growing. 

But the Kyiv authorities are masters at deflecting failure. They recently succeeded in diverting attention away from the loss of Bahmut by focusing the entire press, which continues to be manually controlled during the war, on the Belgorod region, where "Russian Free Forces" invading from Ukraine were rampaging through some villages. It is no different now. 

During the NATO summit, the city council of Kyiv, which is known to be 90 percent Russian-speaking, banned Russian-language songs, concerts, books, cultural and handicraft products, and works of art in public places.

According to the report, the ban is aimed at protecting the Ukrainian information space from the influence of the aggressor state. 

Let's beat up Orban

Regarding the NATO summit, which ultimately ended in failure for Ukraine, the diversion of public attention within the public square has started on all fronts across the board. Trans-Carpathia is no exception. 

However, in that region, Hungarians are to blame, as they are for everything else, for Ukraine not being invited to NATO.

For example, Vitaliy Glagola, a freelance journalist from Uzhhorod (Ungvar) Ukraine, who has a striking and well-known relationship with the interior affairs authorities, often puts out posts blaming Hungarians for Ukraine's failures. He did so in this case too. In his latest post on NATO, he wrote:

We demand three things: 

1. Entry into NATO
2. F-16's
3. Beat up orban [lower case] 

The pundit, also popular among nationalists, eventually deleted his post, but the internet never forgets. 

Third point: beating up Orban

Cover photo: Volodymyr Zelensky standing alone at the NATO summit in Vilnius (Photo: Getty Images/Yves Herman)