Hungary is working to "redefine" the country's NATO membership status so that it can potentially refuse to deepen support for Ukraine from the military alliance, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said, UNN reports citing Bloomberg.
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Hungarian military officials and lawyers are already working on a new concept that would differentiate the country from other members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Orban said in an interview with state radio on Friday.
"Our lawyers and officers are working diligently to see how Hungary can maintain its membership in NATO in a way that does not require it to participate in NATO actions outside of NATO territory," Orban said.
The government in Budapest is already making an important contribution to two of the alliance's missions outside its territory - in Iraq and Kosovo, the newspaper points out. NATO members also have the option of opting out of any military missions, although the widest possible participation is always encouraged.
Orban's statements came as the alliance is developing a package of support for Ukraine, which it will present at the summit of its leaders in Washington in July. These measures are expected to include an increased role for NATO at the operational level in coordinating the supply of weapons and training for Ukrainian forces, the newspaper notes.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also proposed that the allies come together for a $100 billion fund for Ukraine over the next five years, "but many allies have abandoned these plans since the initial proposal.
Hungary, the newspaper points out, "has repeatedly tried to torpedo Western efforts to help Ukraine, including funding and arms supplies.
Orban also sought to stop NATO's expansion to include Finland and Sweden and signed energy deals with Russia, which drew criticism from Western capitals.
In the interview, Orban said Hungary is committed to NATO's mission to defend allies if they are attacked. But he said Hungary was concerned that funding and arms supplies for Ukraine, a non-NATO country that borders Hungary, would eventually give way to wider military intervention, possibly even sending troops.
He said that "Hungary fundamentally disagrees with the assessment of some NATO members that Russia will invade NATO's eastern flank after Ukraine," as the current war, in his words, should be seen as a war between "two Slavic countries.
This view is not shared by NATO, which has set up working groups to study a potentially expanded role for the military alliance in the war, Orban said. Support for Ukrainian forces under the new NATO mission will be provided outside of Ukraine, the newspaper said.
According to him, Hungary, as a NATO member, participates in these discussions, but in fact as a "non-participant" who opposes sending money and weapons to Ukraine. Granting Hungary an official opt-out would mean a new concept of NATO membership, he said.
"Now we are in a situation where we are in and out," Orban said. - "I don't know how long this can be maintained.