Hungary's Orban criticized for 'neutrality' in Ukraine war

[Uncle Joe]

BUDAPEST, Hungary -- Widely seen as Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest ally in the European Union, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has sought to assert Hungary's neutrality in the war in Ukraine, even as his allies in the EU and NATO assist the embattled country and punish Russia for launching the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II.

Orban, who faces a difficult election on April 3, has refused to supply Ukraine with military aid — alone among Ukraine's EU neighbors — and has not allowed lethal weapons to be shipped to Ukraine across Hungary's borders.

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Zelenskyy recalled that Hungary's capital of Budapest had experienced the horrors of war in the 20th century, and referred to a memorial of bronze shoes on the Danube river that pays tribute to the Hungarian Jews executed by German and Hungarian fascists in World War II.

“Listen, Viktor, do you know what’s going on in Mariupol?" Zelenskyy said, referring to the Ukrainian city on the Sea of Azov that has undergone devastating Russian bombardment. "Please, if you can, go to your waterfront. Look at those shoes. And you will see how mass killings can happen again in today’s world. That’s what Russia is doing today.”

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https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/hungarys-orban-criticized-neutrality-ukraine-war-83688242