CNN Dishonestly Calls Orban A Putin Ally

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Russian President Vladimir Putin and his closest ally among European Union leaders, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, on Tuesday reaffirmed their commitment to bilateral ties amid international tensions over the war in Ukraine.

Hungary - which has opposed many EU initiatives to support Ukraine in resisting Moscow's forces and gets most of its crude oil and gas from Russia - has never wanted to oppose Russia and is trying to salvage bilateral contacts, Orban told Putin in comments via an interpreter broadcast on Russian television before a forum in Beijing.

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Hungary cultivates closer ties with Russia than other EU states, and is seen as the key potential opponent to a decision due in December on whether to open EU accession talks with Kyiv, which would require the unanimous backing of the bloc's 27 members.

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Hungary continues to buy billions of dollars of Russian oil and gas annually, despite most other Western nations’ cutting of economic ties with Russia after its invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022. Budapest also has sought to strengthen ties with Beijing, bucking Western efforts to reduce dependence on China.

It has led some to label the country as Russia and China’s “Trojan Horse" in the West. What’s behind Hungary’s warm relations with Moscow and Beijing? Many analysts say Hungary is seeking to exploit global tensions to its own advantage.

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Hungary’s links with Moscow go far deeper than oil and gas. Prime Minister Viktor Orban has repeatedly rejected Western calls to sever economic ties with Moscow.

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How would you characterize the relationship?

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self interest and self preservation

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By allying with Putin.

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I didn't know this was controversial

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