Kyiv slams Hungary’s ‘Orbanism’ after Budapest rejects Carpathian Eight and fuel storage plan

Ukraine’s foreign minister has issued a sharp rebuke of Hungary after Prime Minister Péter Magyar told parliament that Budapest is not part of Kyiv’s new Carpathian Eight format and will not host Ukrainian fuel reserves on Hungarian soil.

Andrii Sybiha said Kyiv was “surprised” by what he called the Hungarian prime minister’s “unnecessarily confrontational statements.” The Carpathian Integration Initiative, he wrote, is meant to foster prosperity, interconnectivity and mutually beneficial projects across eight Carpathian countries. The reasons for Hungary’s “categorical rejection” remain unknown, he added. Sybiha also criticised statements that cast doubt on a memorandum signed by Ukrainian and Hungarian energy companies. “Whenever politics interferes with pragmatic business, nothing good comes of it,” he said. He argued that “Orbanism” and policies of obstructionism and isolationism appear to continue even after Viktor Orbán left office, while still reiterating Ukraine’s openness to mutually beneficial, pragmatic and respectful bilateral cooperation.

Speaking in parliament on 21 September, Magyar confirmed that Hungary received an invitation to the Carpathian Eight but declined it “for good reasons.” “We were invited, and for good reasons we did not go,” he said. “Believe me, Hungary is not taking part in this.” He added that if Hungary ever joined, the government itself would announce it. Magyar did not publicly detail those reasons.

The same session addressed a memorandum signed at the Bukovel summit between Ukraine’s Naftogaz and Hungary’s MOL on developing petroleum-product storage facilities in Hungary near the shared border. Naftogaz presented the project as a way to place strategic fuel reserves beyond the reach of Russian strikes. Magyar firmly rejected the arrangement, saying MOL had held talks without government approval and that no such facility would be built on Hungarian territory, citing security concerns and the absence of official consent.

The exchange follows the inaugural Carpathian Eight summit held in Bukovel on 18–20 September. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy launched the format as a platform for security, energy, logistics, cross-border trade and community support among Ukraine, Romania, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary and Serbia, with EU participation. High-level attendees included leaders from Romania, Poland and Serbia; Hungary sent only its deputy ambassador to Ukraine and did not appear in the opening group photo. The economic track produced dozens of agreements and project presentations valued in the billions of euros.

Ukraine hosts inaugural Carpathian Eight summit, launching new regional cooperation format

Hungarian officials pushed back against Sybiha’s characterisation. Magyar compared listing Hungary as a member without prior consultation to being told one had joined a neighbouring village’s football team and must bring the ball. Deputy Prime Minister Anita Orbán said Hungary has not joined the C8, that no international energy cooperation can proceed without the Hungarian government, and that the new administration has offered multiple gestures to Ukraine, rejecting any simple analogy with Orbán-era obstruction.

Bilateral relations remain complicated by the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia. A June 2026 agreement under Magyar committed Ukraine to restore language, education and cultural rights, after which Hungary supported the opening of Ukraine’s first EU accession cluster. Implementation disputes persist, and Budapest continues to delay further clusters. Even so, both capitals have signalled interest in limited, practical cooperation on energy and regional issues even as they clash over the new political format.

Caption: Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha speaks during a joint press conference with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Monaco Isabelle Berro-Amadei (not pictured) in Kyiv, Ukraine, 15 September 2026. EPA/SERGEY DOLZHENKO