Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on March 11 on Facebook that, according to him, “Ukrainians are already threatening my family, my children, and my grandchildren.” “Everything is fine—but there is a limit to everything!” he wrote.
The Hungarian leader also published a short video in which he is seen speaking with relatives by phone. “Dear Flora, this is your father—you will probably see in the news that Ukrainians have threatened you,” Orban says in the recording, addressing one of his five daughters (quote via Origo). He urges his children to take the situation seriously—but “not to be afraid.”
Later, the prime minister delivered a video address that was broadcast on Hungarian television channels. Orban said that his relatives were “all right,” adding that in such circumstances “a family closes ranks.” “They were not frightened, although this is unusual for us. We will figure out how to adapt to this, and my wife will play a key role in that,” Orban said, according to Magyar Hírlap.
As reported by Magyar Nemzet, Orban also raised the issue of threats during a speech in the city of Vecses. In the same address, he noted that since the end of January Hungary has not been receiving oil through the Druzhba pipeline, which runs across Ukrainian territory.
“Ukrainians are obliged to allow the oil to pass, because they have taken on these commitments. But they are trying to blackmail us, and we do not yield to blackmail. We are not afraid of threats—even if they are directed at the prime minister, his family, or the government,” Orban said.
Reports of the alleged threats emerged after Hungarian media widely circulated a statement by former Verkhovna Rada deputy Hryhorii Omelchenko. In an interview with the Ukrainian television channel “Pryamyi” on March 9 he said that Ukrainians know where Orban lives—“where he spends the night, drinks beer and wine, smokes a hookah, where he walks, and whom he meets.”
Omelchenko also said that a day and a half before the start of the war between the United States and Israel and Iran he had warned Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei about “what awaited him, his relatives, and those close to him.” “And it happened, because you know that, as they say, everything is God’s will. And let Orban think about his five children and six grandchildren,” he added.
In addition, on March 5 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, without naming names, said that aid to Ukraine is being blocked by “one person in the EU”, and added that he was ready to give Ukrainian soldiers that person’s address: “Let them call him and speak with him in their own language.” Media reports suggested he was referring to Orban.
Relations between Budapest and Kyiv have noticeably deteriorated in recent months. The trigger was the halt of oil deliveries through the Druzhba pipeline, through which oil has not reached Hungary and Slovakia since January 27. Kyiv says the infrastructure was damaged by Russian strikes. Budapest believes Ukraine is restricting supplies for political reasons. The EU is demanding that Ukraine speed up repairs to the oil pipeline.
Against this backdrop, Hungary has blocked two European Union decisions related to Ukraine: the provision of a €90 billion loan to Kyiv—the assistance Zelensky was referring to—and the introduction of the EU’s 20th package of sanctions against Russia. In addition, in February Hungary and Slovakia warned they could halt electricity supplies to Ukraine.
In early March in Budapest employees of a Ukrainian state bank were detained while transporting tens of millions of dollars and euros, as well as gold. Hungarian authorities later released the detainees, but kept the cash and gold pending the outcome of the investigation.