Ukrainian foreign minister on Magyar's latest statements: Orbán may be gone, but his policies continue to thrive in Hungary

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has said he was surprised by Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar's recent "unnecessarily confrontational" statements regarding Ukraine.

Sybiha's comments concerned, among other things, Magyar's statement that Hungary had refused to join the Carpathian Eight format initiated by Ukraine.

The Ukrainian minister said on X that the initiative "is aimed at the development of our entire region, contributing to prosperity, interconnectivity, and mutually beneficial projects across eight Carpathian countries".

The reasons for Hungary's categorical refusal remain unclear, he added.

Sybiha also responded to Magyar's statement that his government would not allow oil storage facilities for Ukraine's needs to be built in Hungary.

The foreign minister said such statements were "casting doubt on the direct, pragmatic and mutually beneficial cooperation between Ukrainian and Hungarian energy companies, agreed upon in a bilateral memorandum".

Sybiha stressed that whenever politics interferes with pragmatic business, "nothing good comes of it".

"What we've been hearing from Budapest lately leaves us confused. It seems that while Viktor Orbán is gone, his policies of obstructionism and isolationism continue to thrive. Orbanism has done no good, neither to Hungary nor to the broader region, in the past – and it will not do anyone any good moving forward," he said.

Meanwhile, the minister stressed that Ukraine remains ready and open "to developing mutually beneficial, pragmatic, and respectful bilateral cooperation with Hungary".

Read also: Hungary's "punishment" for Ukraine: how Magyar aims to humiliate Kyiv and block its EU future