Security Expert: Ukraine Views Russia, Hungary As Main Enemies

Ukraine’s president accused Hungary of violating its airspace with drones and issued a threat in response. According to security expert Gyorgy Nogradi, relations between Budapest and Kyiv are spiraling downward, with Ukraine treating Russia and Hungary as its chief enemies. He argues the drone allegation is unsubstantiated and sees Zelensky’s political position eroding.

Volodymyr Zelensky and Emmanuel Macron (Photo: AFP)

As reported by Magyar Nemzet, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed on Friday that Hungarian drones may have flown into Ukrainian airspace, and he threatened Hungary. We asked security policy expert Gyorgy Nogradi about the situation.

During Zelensky’s address at the UN, the majority of diplomats stood up and walked out (Photo: Timothy A. Clary)

Practically speaking, relations between Hungary and Ukraine keep going downhill,

the expert emphasized, adding that there are several reasons for this. One reason is that since the war began a little over three years ago, the Ukrainian leadership has become accustomed to giving a very brief thank you wherever they go, and then immediately laying out new demands.

The most well-known example of this was the Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, who said that if Germany did not hand over Taurus missiles, then the chancellor should resign,

he noted, adding that under the current circumstances it is not even clear how large Ukraine’s population is.

"Before the war, there were 52–53 million people, now there may be only twenty-something million. Around 20 percent of the country is under Russian occupation, countless people have fled, and the number of dead and wounded is high. The Ukrainians publish Russia's losses each day. According to the latest figure, more than 1.1 million Russians have been killed, wounded, or have gone missing, which is obviously a major exaggeration of the situation,” said Gyorgy Nogradi. 

Looking at Zelensky's role, it happened for the first time that at the UN, while he was giving his speech, the majority of diplomats stood up and walked out. That means they have had enough of Zelensky’s daily lecturing,

the expert stressed.

Zelensky and EU Accession Plans

Gyorgy Nogradi pointed out that Ukraine expects support for joining NATO and the EU. "The Russians support EU membership because they said that if Ukraine joins the European Union, it will immediately begin to dismantle the EU from within. NATO membership is not supported by the US, Germany, or a good number of other European countries,” said the security policy expert.

For Ukrainians, enemy number one is Russia, and unfortunately enemy number two is Hungary, because we do not support Ukraine's extremely dangerous, suicidal Ukrainian policy,

the expert emphasized, pointing out: 

In recent months, many times drones were reported as Russian drones and supposedly should have triggered a third world war. In reality, it turned out that even near Zagreb it was a Ukrainian drone that crashed. As for the claim that they will ban three Hungarian military leaders from Ukraine, it has no significance, because Hungarian military leaders do not travel to Ukraine

What Is the Truth About the Drones?

According to Gyorgy Nogradi, the important thing to note about the drone issue is that Hungary does not conduct intelligence operations against Ukraine. So Zelensky's policy has weakened quite a bit, but it remains active.

For me, the most important takeaway in the last 48 hours is Zelensky's announcement that if elections are called in Ukraine, he will not run again for president. We shall see!

 said security policy expert Gyorgy Nogradi.

Cover photo: Volodymyr Zelensky and Emmanuel Macron (Photo: AFP)