Hungary Seeks Special NATO Status Amidst Ukraine Conflict

Hungary is considering a re-evaluation of its membership status within NATO, seeking potentially to avoid participation in future operations outside the Alliance and to limit its support for Ukraine.

This was stated by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban during his traditional Friday interview with state radio, as reported by Bloomberg.

In his address, Orban highlighted that Hungarian military officials and legal experts are currently working on developing a new concept that would distinguish Hungary’s role within NATO from that of other member states.

“Our lawyers and officers are working diligently on how Hungary can maintain its NATO membership in such a way that it does not have to participate in NATO actions outside the territory of the Alliance”, stated Orban.

Currently, Hungarian forces contribute to two NATO missions outside the Alliance’s territory – in Iraq and Kosovo.

NATO members have the option to abstain from participating in any military missions, although broader participation is generally encouraged.

The Alliance is currently drafting a support package for Ukraine, which is expected to be presented at the NATO summit in Washington in July. These measures are anticipated to include enhanced NATO operational roles in coordinating arms deliveries and training for Ukrainian forces.

The Hungarian Prime Minister reiterated Hungary’s commitment to NATO’s mission to protect member states in case of an attack. However, he expressed concerns that the funding and supplying of weapons to Ukraine, a non-NATO member, could eventually escalate into greater military involvement, possibly even troop deployments.

Orban emphasised Hungary’s fundamental disagreement with some NATO members’ assessment that Russia might invade NATO’s eastern flank after Ukraine. He described the ongoing war as a conflict between “two Slavic countries.”

According to Orban, NATO does not share this viewpoint and has established working groups to explore the Alliance’s potentially expanded role in the Russia-Ukraine war. Hungary, as a NATO member, participates in these discussions but, as Orban noted, effectively acts as a “non-participant” by opposing financial and military aid to Ukraine.

He asserted that granting Hungary a formal exemption from its contributions would represent a new concept of NATO membership. “We are currently in a situation where we are both there and not there. I don’t know how long this can continue,” he concluded.

Orban has previously stated that neither Ukraine nor Russia can win the war and argued that without Western support, Ukraine would not exist.

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