Hungary's Orban visits Ukraine with aid tensions running high
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00:00Next, Viktor Orban is in Kiev today for talks with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky.
00:05The Hungarian prime minister is Vladimir Putin's closest ally in the EU, and this is his first
00:10visit to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion began over two years ago.
00:15Orban is an outspoken critic of Western military aid to Ukraine, but his visit also comes one
00:21day after Hungary assumed the rotating presidency of the European Union Council, and Ukraine,
00:26of course, is in the process of asking to join the EU.
00:30Immanuel Schatz told us more from Kiev.
00:33This is of utmost significance for Ukraine that for his first visit while at the head
00:40of the of the EU, the rotating head of the EU, Viktor Orban, who is not known for his
00:48pro-Ukrainian stance when it comes to EU aid, is coming here in Kiev.
00:53It is his first visit in Kiev.
00:58He will see Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president.
01:02They will undoubtedly talk about this help given to Ukraine.
01:07Viktor Orban was always in line with Moscow's stance rather than Kiev, so a very symbolic
01:14visit on the diplomatic level.
01:16This is very important for Ukraine to have this sign of Viktor Orban coming here.
01:22We can also imagine that this comes as we've seen two years of Viktor Orban being opposed
01:31to sending more equipment to Ukraine, more defense systems to Ukraine.
01:37And now maybe this is also a sign that Viktor Orban is sending to Brussels to say that he
01:44is aligning with them rather than with the Kremlin.
01:47So those talks today are very important for Kiev, but they're also very important for
01:52the EU as we see Viktor Orban then aligning with the objectives of the European Union.