Zelensky Sees Orban In Everything In Heightened Anxiety

Ukraine releases additional documents regarding why Petro Poroshenko was blocked from leaving the country.

Brüsszel, 2023. október 11. Volodimir Zelenszkij ukrán elnök nyilatkozik a sajtó képviselõinek, amint megérkezik a NATO-tagállamok védelmi minisztereinek kétnapos tancskozására Brüsszelben 2023. október 11-én. MTI/EPA/Olivier Matthys Fotó: Olivier Matthys

Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, leader of the European Solidarity Party, has been barred from leaving Ukraine, as disclosed in a message on the politician's Telegram channel on Friday. In a video posted on his social media site, he said he believed that the border guards did not take action against him on their own initiative, as he held permission to leave the country. Ukraine being in a state of war, the only way to leave the country is with a special permit, but as it later emerged, the document had been withdrawn by Oleksandr Korniyenko, deputy speaker of the Ukrainian parliament.

Korniyenko said that he decided to revoke the permit because of a letter, adding, however, that he could not divulge its content.

Poroshenko said he was due to travel to Poland for official talks to end the truck blockade and then to the United States to secure support for Ukraine's war efforts.

However, the Ukrainian security service (SBU) provided completely different information, saying that the former president planned to meet Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. The intelligence agency alluded to a provocation against Ukraine.

Based on the information, SBU recommended to the president's office, the cabinet of ministers and the parliament that intelligence warnings be taken into account when organizing and approving trips abroad for delegations.

These allegations coming from Ukraine are all the more interesting as Poroshenko made absolutely no mention of any plan to meet Hungary's prime minister. Moreover, SBU is subordinated directly under the authority of Ukraine's president, that is, Volodymyr Zelensky, who has criticized Viktor Orban on multiple occasions. For example, he expressed criticism that Hungary's premier, taking Hungary's interests into account, decided not to allow the transit of weapons to Ukraine through Hungarian territory. Kyiv also criticized Hungary for not cutting all the ties with Russia. In addition, an EU summit is coming up in December and Ukraine hopes that the country can start EU accession talks soon. However, in his regular Friday morning radio interview, Viktor Orban emphasized that the decision requires the agreement of all member states, and safeguarding European unity must also be considered. PM Orban pointed out that starting accession negotiations with a country at war is not in Hungary’s interest, and suggested that the European Council should not put it on the agenda now in order to preserve European unity.

 

Hungarian government response to Ukrainian intelligence allegations

"Hungary does not wish to play any part in President Zelensky's internal political struggles," State Secretary for International Communication and Relations Zoltan Kovacs posted on Facebook on Saturday.

Zoltan Kovacs responded to a statement published on SBU's website. According to the information on the website, former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko was not allowed to travel abroad because he was due to meet Prime Minister Viktor Orban, which would pose the risk of the ex-president becoming a tool in Russia's hand.

"These political purges are yet another indication that Ukraine is not yet ready for European Union membership," Zoltan Kovacs pointed out in his post.

Cover photo: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (Photo: MTI/EPA/Olivier Matthys)