Balazs Orban: Hungary Rejects Funding Ukrainian Well-Being with Taxpayer Money

Hungary’s leadership seeks constructive relations with Ukraine, but that goal is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain after Ukraine announced it would openly interfere in Hungary’s elections on the side of an opposition party, the Tisza Party.

Balazs Orban, Political Director to the Hungarian Prime Minister (Photo: Zoltan Havran).

“Hungary’s position is clear: we do not want to have Hungarians' money financing Ukraine's welfare,” Balazs Orban, the prime minister's political director, said on Kossuth Radio’s Sunday News program.

Balazs Orban (Source: Facebook)

Balazs Orban stressed that the government wants to make it unmistakably clear that Through the petition, Hungarians are being asked to state plainly that they do not want to pay for the war or for the operation of the Ukrainian state, and that they are unwilling to accept higher household energy costs as a result.

Hungary will not pay Ukraine’s utility bills, and that this principle is at the heart of the national petition. 

Through the petition, Hungarians are being asked to state plainly that they do not want to pay for the war or for the operation of the Ukrainian state, and that they are unwilling to accept higher household energy costs as a result.

He noted that last week two joint Brussels–Kyiv plans have come to light. One envisions close cooperation to fast-track Ukraine’s accession to the European Union by 2027. Mr. Orban added that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has openly demanded EU membership by that date, while the EU enlargement commissioner has described it as one of her greatest ambitions.

According to Orban, 

the political battle over Ukraine’s EU membership will be one of the defining conflicts between Brussels and Hungary in the period ahead.

He pointed out that in the Voks2025 vote, "Hungarians rejected Ukraine’s accelerated accession by an overwhelming majority,” a position the government intends to represent firmly.

He also referenced the so-called Ukrainian welfare plan submitted by Kyiv to Brussels, which he said contains “astronomical figures” for the next decade. Under the proposal, the European Union would have to set aside $800 billion just to finance Ukraine, in addition to another $700 billion Ukraine is demanding to cover military expenditures.

The politician explained that the idea of a national petition emerged in response to Brussels and Kyiv setting 2027 as the target date for phasing out Russian energy. 

If Hungary loses access to cheap Russian energy, the utility price reduction policy would become unsustainable, and the government would no longer be able to introduce measures like January’s utility price freeze,

he said.

While Hungary continues to pursue good relations with Ukraine and has provided assistance to the country during the war, Orban said this cannot continue under conditions in which Ukraine has announced open interference in Hungary’s elections in support of the Tisza Party. The government, he added, will not allow Hungary’s future to be “consumed” through Ukraine’s welfare plan or its EU accession.

He further warned that policy advisers and candidate figures have appeared around the Tisza Party who not only support Ukraine’s EU membership but also back its accession to NATO. According to Orban, this now goes beyond intelligence-related assistance in developing the party's apps; the party also includes figures known internationally for acting “in line with Ukrainian interests.”

“These are not politicians from whom one can expect a firm defense of Hungary’s national interests or a willingness to say no to President Zelensky or European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen,” Orban said. “That can only be expected from a pro-nation, patriotic government and from Viktor Orban—and this will be one of the key stakes of the April elections.”

Addressing recent bomb threats targeting Hungarian and Transcarpathian schools, Orban said the situation appears to involve a coordinated threat spanning multiple countries, and it is the responsibility of authorities to uncover the source. 

He urged the public to remain calm and to follow official guidance at all times.

Orban also warned that efforts in Brussels to roll back national sovereignty are intensifying, with moves to restrict member states’ room for maneuver and potential veto rights. 

He noted that politicians from both the Democratic Coalition (DK) and the Tisza Party have repeatedly argued that Hungary should give up its veto power and surrender elements of its sovereignty.

“In the current situation, member states should be reclaiming control,” Orban said, adding that this is the only way to pursue peace and ensure that ordinary Europeans do not bear the cost of the energy transition. “Unlike DK and Tisza, we believe it is not the European Commission that should be strengthened, but the member states themselves. They must stand their ground—and that is what we are preparing to do in the coming years.”

Cover photo: Balazs Orban, Political Director to the Hungarian Prime Minister (Photo: Zoltan Havran).

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