Orban seeks to shore up domestic support after Trump-Putin summit cancelled

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By Krisztina Than and Anita Komuves

BUDAPEST (Reuters) -Nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Thursday accused the European Union of wanting to impose a “puppet” government on Hungary and presented next year’s election as a choice between peace or going to war to “die for Ukraine.”

As tens of thousands of his supporters filled a central square in Budapest, Orban, under threat from a centre-right pro-EU opposition party that leads most opinion polls, said Brussels wanted war and intended to eventually divide up Ukraine.

“This is why they want to squeeze Ukraine into the EU at any price….to bring war into Europe, and take [EU] money to Ukraine,” Orban told the rally in front of parliament.

Orban, who has opposed the EU’s policy of providing military aid to Kyiv, has long cast Ukraine as a threat to Hungarians, saying its potential EU membership would destroy agriculture and put Hungarian jobs and even pensions at risk. He reiterated his stance on Thursday, saying Ukraine must not be allowed to join the bloc.

The EU is set to agree in principle to finance Ukraine for the next two years at a summit in Brussels on Thursday. It rejects suggestions providing military aid prolongs the war and says it is helping Kyiv to defend itself.

PUTIN, TRUMP SUMMIT IN BUDAPEST CANCELLED

Hungary’s commemoration on Thursday of the 1956 anti-Soviet uprising that was crushed by the Red Army comes at a delicate time for Orban, who has kept good ties with the Kremlin despite the rest of the EU seeking to isolate Moscow.

Orban, a long-time Trump ally, who has campaigned on wanting peace in Ukraine for years without saying at what price, was also pinning great hopes on a summit in Budapest between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

But late on Wednesday Trump cancelled the summit citing a lack of diplomatic progress and slapped sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies. Hungary is heavily reliant on Russian crude and it was not immediately clear how the U.S. measures would affect its oil supply. The government did not reply to emailed Reuters questions.

THREAT TO ORBAN’S 15-YEAR RULE FROM OPPOSITION PARTY

Orban faces elections likely in April 2026, and the new opposition Tisza party of Peter Magyar, a former government insider, leads most opinion polls. Magyar will address an opposition rally in Budapest around 1430 GMT.

Magyar has accused Orban of running an increasingly authoritarian and corrupt government. The government has denied such allegations but Magyar has tapped into voter frustrations with Orban, especially as the economy is just barely growing after an inflation shock.

As tens of thousands of opposition supporters gathered for their rally, they said it was high time for change.

“I am fed up with this system, which has already been in place for 15 years,” said Istvan Cirkusz, who said young people were fleeing the country.

“We are sliding downwards, GDP is at rock-bottom by European comparison.”

(Reporting by Krisztina Than, Anita Komuves and Krisztina Fenyo; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)