Boka: Orbán ‘indispensable’ player of conservative camp – Le Monde

In the interview published on Friday, Janos Boka said Orbán had tried and failed to convince the heads of other member states to abandon the “questionable European strategy based on the belief that Ukraine would win the war” and to reach consensus. When that didn’t happen, Orbán left the room to express his rejection of the start of accession talks with Ukraine, Boka said.

At the same time, Boka said Hungary welcomes “some member states” and the EC’s work on a proposal to separate aid for Ukraine from the EU budget. “We propose to adopt [the budget for support of Ukraine] based on an annual, unanimous vote.”

Meanwhile, Boka said that Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto was slated to meet his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, on Jan 29, to prepare a meeting between Orbán and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, “if there is hope of such a meeting bringing substantial progress.”