Orban says Ukraine «is not a sovereign state», and therefore should not be concerned about Hungarian drones

Viktor Orban. Photo: REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has commented on the violation of Ukrainian airspace by Hungarian reconnaissance drones, saying that this is «not something that Ukraine should be concerned about».

He said this in the Harcosok órája podcast, according to NikVesti with reference to «Interfax-Ukraine».

Orban stressed that Budapest does not intend to attack Ukraine, and Kyiv should focus more on the war with Russia.

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«Ukraine is not at war with Hungary, but with Russia. It needs to focus on drones on its eastern border, because that's where the NATO countries are. No one will attack it from here. I don't understand why Poles, Romanians, Hungarians, Slovaks or Bulgarians would want to attack,» he said.

The Hungarian prime minister also stressed that he doubted that Ukraine would be able to hold on to its territories.

«It (Ukraine) lost a fifth of its territory in the war with the Russians. The Russians took it away. The sovereignty is over there. Are we going to keep the rest of the territory? We need to be more serious. 2-3 Hungarian drones are not something that Ukraine should be worried about, these are not its enemies,» Viktor Orban added.

He also said that Ukraine had lost its sovereignty due to its dependence on Western aid.

«I believe the government, but even if the drone flew a few metres away, so what? Ukraine is not an independent country. Ukraine is not a sovereign state. Do we support Ukraine? The West supports it. We give it weapons. Ukraine should not behave as if it is sovereign,» the politician said.

Orban also threatened that if Western countries cut off funding, «Ukraine could go bankrupt tomorrow».

Earlier, Orban asked Zelenskyy «to stop bothering» Hungary after the drone incident.