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Transcript/ScriptHungary Russia China
HEADLINE: Why is Hungary Strengthening Ties with Russia and China?
TEASER: Moscow and Beijing are major investors in Hungarian infrastructure
PUBLISHED AT: 02/22/2024 at 6:41p
BYLINE: Henry Ridgwell
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Budapest
VIDEOGRAPHER: Anscin Gabor
VIDEO EDITOR:
SCRIPT EDITORS: MAS, Bill Ide
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA, Reuters, APTN, AFP
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB _X_ TV _X_ RADIO __
TRT: 3:45
VID APPROVED BY: Jepsen
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES:))
((INTRO)) [[While many Western nations have cut economic ties with Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Hungary continues to buy billions of dollars of Russian oil and gas. It has also sought to strengthen ties with Beijing, bucking Western efforts to reduce dependence on China. As Henry Ridgwell reports from Budapest, analysts say Hungary’s leader is seeking to exploit global tensions.]]
The Druzhba or ‘Friendship’ pipeline brings Russian oil to this refinery on the outskirts of Budapest.
The European Union banned Russian oil imports following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. But Hungary demanded an exemption, claiming it cannot diversify supply – and is now Moscow’s biggest energy customer in the EU, purchasing 343 million dollars-worth in January alone. Russia is also building a new nuclear power plant in Hungary.
Kyiv says Russia spends its energy revenue on weapons to kill Ukrainians. But Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban rejects calls to sever economic ties with Moscow.
((FOR RADIO: In his televised annual address last week, Orban claimed that “Brussels’ strategy for Ukraine has failed spectacularly. Not only on the battlefield, where the situation is catastrophic, but also in international politics. We have said in vain that this war is a brotherly war of two Slavic nations, and not ours,” he said.))
((Viktor Orban, Hungarian Prime Minister (in Hungarian) ))
“Brussels’ strategy for Ukraine has failed spectacularly. Not only on the battlefield, where the situation is catastrophic, but also in international politics. We have said in vain that this war is a brotherly war of two Slavic nations, and not ours.”
Orban has criticized EU sanctions on Russia, blocked European aid for Ukraine and delayed ratifying Sweden’s accession to NATO. He has made Hungary the outcast of Europe, says analyst Peter Kreko.
((Peter Kreko, Executive Director of Political Capital (in English) ))
“No-one has gone so far in demolishing democratic institutions, turning against the Western institution system and cultivating relationships with Russia and China.”
China is financing a 3.8 billon-dollar high-speed railway from Budapest to the Serbian capital Belgrade – a flagship project of its Belt and Road Initiative. Hungary was among the largest global recipients of Chinese investment under the program in 2022.
((FOR RADIO: Miklos Ligeti is from the anti-corruption organization Transparency International in Hungary.))
((Miklos Ligeti, Transparency International Hungary (in English) ))
“There are arbitrarily designed and swiftly adopted regulations by parliament to prevent any insight or oversight in and over the Russian investment in the nuclear power plant or the Chinese investment into the railway track that is being developed from Belgrade to Budapest. These are major investments. In the Hungarian context these are unprecedented investments.”
The Hungarian government rejects claims of corruption – and says details of the investments were kept secret in order to secure Chinese loans.
((OPT OUT))
Hungary’s warm relations with Moscow and Beijing are based on a geopolitical assumption, says Kreko.
((Peter Kreko, Executive Director of ‘Political Capital’(in English) ))
“Where there is a new Cold War-type conflict emerging between China and the West. And Orban wants to play this bridge role between the two. And it’s also increasingly about a notion that the Western liberal democratic order is about to collapse and we have to look for new models, being them in Russia, being them in China.”
It’s a stark reversal from Hungary’s emergence from Communist rule and accession to the EU.
((Henry Ridgwell, VOA News (standup version))
“This monument marks the 1956 uprising against Soviet rule which was brutally crushed by Moscow. And democratic rule would not return to Hungary until 1989. But now there are concerns about the state of democratic rule in the country – and about the strength of influence from Russia.”
((OPT IN))
((Henry Ridgwell, VOA News, Budapest.))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
Subtitles / Dubbing AvailableNo
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateFebruary 22, 2024 19:29 EST
Byline
Henry Ridgwell, VOA News, Budapest
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
