Latest news with #Ukrainian
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Business Standard
28 minutes ago
- Politics
- Business Standard
Orbn's anti-Ukraine campaign targets rival before Hungary elections
There is an ongoing campaign against any critical voices in Hungary saying that they are agents of Ukraine, and this can be used also against the Tisza party AP Budapest As Hungary heads toward national elections next spring and the populist government's popularity slumps, Prime Minister Viktor Orbn has zeroed in on a central theme he hopes will sway voters: an alleged threat posed by neighbouring Ukraine. While most European Union countries have offered political, financial, and military support to Kyiv since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, Hungary under Orbn has charted a starkly different course refusing to supply Ukraine with weapons or allow their transit through Hungarian territory, demanding sanctions relief and rapprochement with Russia, and adopting a combative stance toward both Kyiv and its EU backers. With his ruling Fidesz party slipping in the polls and a new opposition force gaining momentum, Orbn has escalated a sweeping anti-Ukraine campaign presenting the upcoming election as a referendum on peace or war. Going further, he has accused his leading political opponent of entering into a treasonous pact with Kyiv to overthrow his government and install a pro-Western, pro-Ukraine administration. Orbn opposes Ukraine's accession to the EU Some of his ideas mirror the growing anti-Ukraine messaging coming from right-wing populists in the West, including from President Donald Trump. Let's be under no illusions: Brussels and Ukraine are jointly building up a puppet government (in Hungary), Orbn said on June 6 in comments to state radio. They want to change Hungary's policy toward Ukraine after the next elections, or even sooner. At the heart of Orbn's claims is Ukraine's ambition to join the EU, something Kyiv believes would place it firmly within the embrace of the West and provide a measure of security against potential Russian attacks in the future. While Orbn was a firm supporter of Ukraine's eventual EU accession shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion, he now argues that its membership which will likely take many years would flood Hungary with crime, cheap labor, and low-quality agricultural products, threatening national sovereignty and economic stability. He has also spuriously claimed that Brussels and Kyiv intend to force Hungarians to fight Russia on the front lines. On Monday, Orbn posted a video to his social media page depicting animated, artificial intelligence-generated scenes of bloodied, machine-gun wielding Hungarian soldiers engaged in armed conflict, and rows of caskets lined beneath Hungarian flags. We don't want our children, in the form of the Hungarian army, to be deployed to the Ukrainian front lines or to Ukrainian territory and to come back in coffins, he said in the video. Campaign targets the main opposition leader Central to Orbn's life-or-death narrative of the Hungarian election is his growing campaign against his main political rival, Pter Magyar, a former Fidesz insider whose new Tisza party has surged in popularity. Once married to Hungary's former justice minister, Magyar has become the most formidable challenger to Orbn's rule since the EU's longest-serving leader took office in 2010. With Tisza leading Fidesz in most independent polls, some analysts and domestic critics believe Orbn may be laying the groundwork to discredit or even disqualify Magyar ahead of the 2026 election. Pter Krek, director of the Budapest-based Political Capital think tank, said Orbn's attempt to link Magyar and Tisza to the image of a dangerous Ukraine is aimed at neutralizing his domestic opposition as popular sentiment appears to be turning against him. There is an ongoing campaign against any critical voices in Hungary saying that they are agents of Ukraine, and this can be used also against the Tisza party," he told The Associated Press. "If you can't win back public opinion anymore, then you can try to use a more authoritarian toolkit. Beyond political rhetoric, such accusations have reached the highest levels of diplomacy. In May, Ukraine's main security agency said that it had arrested two people on suspicion of spying for Hungary by gathering intelligence on Ukraine's military defenses in the west of the country. That set off a tit-for-tat series of diplomatic expulsions, and accusations from Hungary's government that the affair was part of a concerted Ukrainian campaign involving Magyar and his party to undermine Orbn. The prime minister accused Magyar and Tisza of being pro-Ukrainian and supporting Ukraine's EU bid, and alleging that a prominent Tisza member, the former chief of staff of the Hungarian military, has deep ties with Ukrainian intelligence. No evidence has been provided to support the claims, which Magyar has dismissed outright. It is outrageous and blood-boiling when a patriot who trained and prepared to be a soldier since the age of 14 and who took a military oath ... is accused of treason by people who would sell their country out, Magyar told a news conference on June 5. Ukraine pushes back To reinforce its message, the Hungarian government launched a state-funded communication blitz in March, accompanied by a non-binding national consultation on Ukraine's EU membership. Billboards, television ads, and social media posts have flooded the country, portraying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as the architects of a plot to undermine, or even destroy Hungary. They would bring Ukraine into the EU, but we would pay the price! reads one poster. Let's vote no! Ukrainian officials have been restrained in reacting to the Hungarian campaign. But in an interview published last week in Hungarian outlet Vlasz Online, Zelenskyy criticized the government's use of his face as part of its media barrage, and accused Orbn of being "anti-Ukrainian and anti-European." He is using this in his domestic policy: he wants to turn the war in Ukraine to his own advantage in the elections. That is dishonest, Zelenskyy said. In a post on X on Tuesday, Ukraine's foreign ministry also pushed back on Hungary's accusations. The Hungarian government's communication line, which demonizes Ukraine and President Zelenskyy, has gone off the rails, the ministry's spokesman, Heorhii Tykhyi, wrote. We don't see Hungary demanding that Russia accept a ceasefire ... They remain silent when principled action is needed and make baseless accusations when diplomacy is required. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Irish Independent
36 minutes ago
- Business
- Irish Independent
€120m Westmeath housing development seeking five year planning extension
Ukrainian war causing major supply chain uncertainty Today at 04:32 Developers behind a €120m housing development in Athlone have applied for further time to complete one of the largest residential housing developments the midlands town has ever seen. An Bord Pleanála rubberstamped plans for 426 new homes on a near 40 acre site at lands and bordering Buccaneers rugby club, in the townlands of Coosan, Cornamagh, and Clonbrusk in October 2020.
NBC News
40 minutes ago
- Politics
- NBC News
One killed and 14 injured in overnight Russian attack on Ukraine's Odesa
KYIV, Ukraine — One person was killed and at least 14 were injured when Russian drones attacked the Ukrainian Black Sea city of Odesa overnight, damaging high-rise buildings and railway infrastructure, local authorities and prosecutors said Friday. Odesa is Ukraine's largest Black Sea port, key for imports and exports, and has been under constant missile and drone attacks by Russia since the war began. 'Despite the active work of air defense forces, there is damage to civilian infrastructure, including residential buildings, a higher education institution, a gas pipeline and private cars,' local governor Oleh Kiper said on Telegram messenger. Kiper released photos of burning houses and charred high-rise buildings. Local emergency services said that during the attack there were at least 10 drone strikes on residential buildings, causing massive fires. Ukraine's air force said Friday that Russia had launched 86 drones on Ukraine overnight. The military noted its air defense units shot down 34 drones while another 36 drones were lost — in reference to the Ukrainian military using electronic warfare to redirect them — or they were drone simulators that did not carry warheads. However, the military reported that drones hit eight locations. Ukrainian state railways Ukrzaliznytsia reported that Odesa railway station was damaged during the attack, with power wires and rails damaged. Russian drones also attacked Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine overnight, damaging several private and multi-story houses, Kharkiv officials said.
Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
‘Reminder to world that Russia chooses killing': Zelenskyy calls for increased pressure on Moscow for ceasefire
In response to a Russian missile strike on a nine-storey apartment building in Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday (June 19) called for increased pressure on Moscow for a ceasefire. The drone and missile strike on Kyiv early Tuesday (June 17) killed 28 people and wounded 142 others and was the deadliest the capital faced this year, said Kyiv Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko. Zelenskyy, along with Andrii Yermak, head of the presidential office, and Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, visited the site of the destroyed apartment building in Kyiv's Solomianskyi district on Thursday morning and paid respects to the 23 people who lost their lives in the direct missile hit that brought down the structure. 'This attack is a reminder to the world that Russia rejects a ceasefire and chooses killing,' Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram, and thanked Ukraine's partners who he said are ready to pressure Russia to 'feel the real cost of the war.' The Tuesday strike was a part of Moscow's intensified attacks in its ongoing war against Ukraine. Russia launched over 440 drones and 32 missiles in what Zelenskyy claims was one of the biggest bombardments in the war, which began in February 2022. This comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected United States President Donald Trump's mediation offer for a 30-day immediate ceasefire. Russia, in recent weeks, has intensified its long-range attacks on Ukraine that have caused severe damage to urban residential areas. However, Putin has denied the accusations, stating that his military launched attacks 'against military industries, not residential quarters.' The Russian President also told the senior news leaders of international news agencies in St. Petersburg, Russia, that he was open to talks with Zelensky but reiterated that the Ukrainian leader's term had expired last year, and he had lost his legitimacy- an allegation that Kyiv and its allies have repeatedly rejected. 'We are ready for substantive talks on the principles of a settlement,' Putin said, noting that a previous round of talks in Istanbul had led to an exchange of prisoners and the bodies of fallen soldiers. A new round of prisoner swap took place on Thursday in Ukraine's Chernihiv region, where Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) were repatriated, who, according to Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War or KSHPPV, were suffering from severe health problems because of prolonged detention and injuries. Remarking on the exchange, Zelenskyy wrote in a post on Telegram, 'We are working to get our people back. Thank you to everyone who helps make these exchanges possible. Our goal is to free each and every one.' Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on Thursday said that his country 'unconditionally accepted' the US ceasefire proposal, alleging that Russia's claims of its willingness to end the war were all 'manipulations'. 'It has been exactly 100 days since Ukraine unconditionally accepted the U.S. peace proposal to completely cease fire, put an end to the killing, and move forward with a genuine peace process … 100 days of Russia escalating terror against Ukraine rather than ending it,' Sybiha wrote in a post on X. 'Ukraine remains committed to peace. Unfortunately, Russia continues to choose war, disregarding US efforts to end the killing,' he added. (With inputs from AP)
2 hours ago
- Politics
Orbán's anti-Ukraine campaign targets political rival as Hungary's elections loom
BUDAPEST, Hungary -- As Hungary heads toward national elections next spring and the populist government's popularity slumps, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has zeroed in on a central theme he hopes will sway voters: an alleged threat posed by neighboring Ukraine. While most European Union countries have offered political, financial, and military support to Kyiv since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, Hungary under Orbán has charted a starkly different course — refusing to supply Ukraine with weapons or allow their transit through Hungarian territory, demanding sanctions relief and rapprochement with Russia, and adopting a combative stance toward both Kyiv and its EU backers. With his ruling Fidesz party slipping in the polls and a new opposition force gaining momentum, Orbán has escalated a sweeping anti-Ukraine campaign — presenting the upcoming election as a referendum on peace or war. Going further, he has accused his leading political opponent of entering into a treasonous pact with Kyiv to overthrow his government and install a pro-Western, pro-Ukraine administration. Some of his ideas mirror the growing anti-Ukraine messaging coming from right-wing populists in the West, including from President Donald Trump. 'Let's be under no illusions: Brussels and Ukraine are jointly building up a puppet government (in Hungary),' Orbán said on June 6 in comments to state radio. 'They want to change Hungary's policy toward Ukraine after the next elections, or even sooner.' At the heart of Orbán's claims is Ukraine's ambition to join the EU, something Kyiv believes would place it firmly within the embrace of the West and provide a measure of security against potential Russian attacks in the future. While Orbán was a firm supporter of Ukraine's eventual EU accession shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion, he now argues that its membership — which will likely take many years — would flood Hungary with crime, cheap labor, and low-quality agricultural products, threatening national sovereignty and economic stability. He has also spuriously claimed that Brussels and Kyiv intend to force Hungarians to fight Russia on the front lines. On Monday, Orbán posted a video to his social media page depicting animated, artificial intelligence-generated scenes of bloodied, machine-gun wielding Hungarian soldiers engaged in armed conflict, and rows of caskets lined beneath Hungarian flags. 'We don't want our children, in the form of the Hungarian army, to be deployed to the Ukrainian front lines or to Ukrainian territory and to come back in coffins,' he said in the video. Central to Orbán's life-or-death narrative of the Hungarian election is his growing campaign against his main political rival, Péter Magyar, a former Fidesz insider whose new Tisza party has surged in popularity. Once married to Hungary's former justice minister, Magyar has become the most formidable challenger to Orbán's rule since the EU's longest-serving leader took office in 2010. With Tisza leading Fidesz in most independent polls, some analysts and domestic critics believe Orbán may be laying the groundwork to discredit or even disqualify Magyar ahead of the 2026 election. Péter Krekó, director of the Budapest-based Political Capital think tank, said Orbán's attempt to link Magyar and Tisza to the image of a dangerous Ukraine is aimed at neutralizing his domestic opposition as popular sentiment appears to be turning against him. 'There is an ongoing campaign against any critical voices in Hungary saying that they are agents of Ukraine, and this can be used also against the Tisza party," he told The Associated Press. "If you can't win back public opinion anymore, then you can try to use a more authoritarian toolkit.' Beyond political rhetoric, such accusations have reached the highest levels of diplomacy. In May, Ukraine's main security agency said that it had arrested two people on suspicion of spying for Hungary by gathering intelligence on Ukraine's military defenses in the west of the country. That set off a tit-for-tat series of diplomatic expulsions, and accusations from Hungary's government that the affair was part of a concerted Ukrainian campaign involving Magyar and his party to undermine Orbán. The prime minister accused Magyar and Tisza of being 'pro-Ukrainian' and supporting Ukraine's EU bid, and alleging that a prominent Tisza member, the former chief of staff of the Hungarian military, has 'deep ties with Ukrainian intelligence.' No evidence has been provided to support the claims, which Magyar has dismissed outright. 'It is outrageous and blood-boiling when a patriot who trained and prepared to be a soldier since the age of 14 and who took a military oath ... is accused of treason by people who would sell their country out,' Magyar told a news conference on June 5. To reinforce its message, the Hungarian government launched a state-funded communication blitz in March, accompanied by a non-binding 'national consultation' on Ukraine's EU membership. Billboards, television ads, and social media posts have flooded the country, portraying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as the architects of a plot to undermine, or even destroy Hungary. 'They would bring Ukraine into the EU, but we would pay the price!' reads one poster. 'Let's vote no!' Ukrainian officials have been restrained in reacting to the Hungarian campaign. But in an interview published last week in Hungarian outlet Válasz Online, Zelenskyy criticized the government's use of his face as part of its media barrage, and accused Orbán of being "anti-Ukrainian and anti-European." 'He is using this in his domestic policy: he wants to turn the war in Ukraine to his own advantage in the elections. That is dishonest,' Zelenskyy said. In a post on X on Tuesday, Ukraine's foreign ministry also pushed back on Hungary's accusations. 'The Hungarian government's communication line, which demonizes Ukraine and President Zelenskyy, has gone off the rails,' the ministry's spokesman, Heorhii Tykhyi, wrote. 'We don't see Hungary demanding that Russia accept a ceasefire ... They remain silent when principled action is needed and make baseless accusations when diplomacy is required.'
