Orbán outraged that Stoltenberg promised NATO membership for Ukraine

Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary-general of NATO, visited Kyiv and openly granted NATO membership to Ukraine. PM Viktor Orbán retweeted Politico’s article about Stoltenberg’s statement and added just one word: “What?” Then the entire internet burst. Orbán’s tweet has already had 1.9 million views, and even NATO reacted.

Stoltenberg finishes work

Mr Stoltenberg has been the “civil” leader of the Washington-lead military alliance since 2014. Instead of continuing work, he decided to resign by 30 September this year. Therefore, he may and is allowed to make some harsh statements or speak following his heart. For example, he visited Kyiv, met with President Zelensky and said that Ukraine’s place is in NATO. According to politico.eu, the incumbent secretary-general added “Ukraine’s rightful place is in NATO, and over time, our support will help you make this possible.”

NATO promised a possible accession in 2008, but most allies – including the United States – have been wary about such a decision ever since. “This will be high on the agenda of the meeting, and also in the lead-up of the preparations for the Vilnius Summit,” Stoltenberg said. Zelensky reacted that the Vilnius summit might be historic, provided Ukraine moves closer to NATO. “Thank you for starting our negotiations. I am sure that we will continue to establish peace together in Ukraine, and throughout Europe, and the world,” the President added. Of course, Stoltenberg did not say a word about a possible timeline concerning the membership and highlighted that first, the country must prevail against the Russians.

Anyway, Orbán reacted to Politico’s article with one word: “What?”, expressing his incomprehension concerning Ukraine’s NATO membership.

Orbán was committed for Ukraine’s NATO membership

The Hungarian government continuously says peace is the most important and that NATO should not give weapons to Kyiv. Instead, they should make Zelensky start negotiations with Putin. Foreign minister Szijjártó told BBC this week that such a move would not necessarily mean territorial losses for Ukraine since they can agree even about the original borders during the peace talks.

Interestingly, in 2008, when the aforementioned positive NATO document was born, PM Orbán represented an utterly different view concerning Ukraine’s NATO membership. For example, he wrote letters to the leaders of Georgia and Ukraine urging their NATO membership as soon as possible, index.hu wrote.

NATO’s press office highlighted in a reaction to Orbán’s tweet that all NATO members committed themselves to the NATO membership of Ukraine in 2008.

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