Well this is interesting.. Samantha Power

in Hungary sort of fits with the whole Victor Orban not bowing to Zelensky the other day.

Is there another regime change plan going on?

https://twitter.com/AZgeopolitics/status/1624765510947684353

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/13/hungary-war-and-peace-opera-spotlight-russia-stance-ukraine claims Hungary is staying neutral in the war, but many critics say his actions amount to tacit support for Putin’s war effort, a strange look for a Nato ally.

“It’s infuriating. This is not a time when you can be neutral, especially in this part of the world, and when you’re supposed to be a member of Nato and the EU. Being neutral means you support Putin,” said a diplomat from another European country in Budapest.

Orbán, who won a fourth consecutive term in office at election last spring, has long thrived on criticism from abroad. He has proudly announced he is building an “illiberal democracy” in contrast with what he views as the degenerate, “woke” west.

However, even some of Orbán’s conservative friends have been alarmed at the Hungarian prime minister’s courting of Russia. Most notably, it has torpedoed the country’s warm relations with Poland. The two countries had previously supported each other over criticism on rule of law issues from Brussels, but now Poland has emerged as a leading supporter of Ukraine.

Sławomir Dębski, director of the Polish Institute of International Affairs in Warsaw, a thinktank close to the Polish government, said Orbán’s position on Russia has in effect ended bilateral ties, as well as activities of the Visegrád Four, a grouping of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia that holds frequent leader summits and has often been aligned on issues in the past.

“Nobody wants to meet the Hungarians any more. Now, when the time for a summit comes around, everyone starts communicating in Warsaw, Bratislava and Prague, saying ‘What shall we do?’”