Hungary's Orbán accuses Ukraine of election interference and summons ambassador

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary's pro-Russian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán accused Ukraine on Monday of seeking to meddle in his country's upcoming elections and ordered Kyiv's ambassador to be summoned to the foreign ministry.

The step was the latest in Orbán's long-running anti-Ukraine campaign as he seeks to convince voters that the neighboring country, embroiled in a war with Russia since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022, poses an existential threat to Hungary's security and sovereignty.

Orbán, who has maintained close ties with Russia, faces what is expected to be the biggest challenge of his 16 years in power during elections scheduled for April 12.

With his right-wing nationalist Fidesz party trailing by double digits in most polls, Orbán has campaigned on the unsubstantiated premise that Hungarians would be forcibly conscripted to fight and die on the front lines in Ukraine if his party loses the election.

In a video posted to social media on Monday, Orbán said Ukraine's political leaders, and “even the president himself, made grossly offensive and threatening statements against Hungary and the Hungarian government.”

Orbán did not specify which statements he was referring to.

“Our national security services have evaluated this latest Ukrainian attack and determined that what happened is part of a coordinated series of Ukrainian measures to interfere in the Hungarian elections,” Orbán said, adding he'd instructed the foreign minister to summon Ukraine's ambassador.

As Hungary's elections approach, Orbán in the last year has escalated a sweeping anti-Ukraine campaign and, without providing evidence, accused his leading rival, opposition leader Péter Magyar, of entering into a pact with Kyiv to overthrow his government and install a pro-Western, pro-Ukraine administration.

Hungary's government has strongly opposed European Union financial and military aid for Ukraine, and vowed that it would veto any EU steps toward its accession into the bloc. This month, Orbán's government launched what it calls a “national petition” which it has urged voters to sign in opposition to continued EU financial support for Kyiv.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticized Orbán, saying he “lives off European money while trying to sell out European interests.”

“If he feels comfortable in Moscow, it doesn't mean we should let European capitals become little Moscows,” Zelenskyy said of Orbán.