Hungary and Slovakia are the only EU nations confronting the Kiev Godfather and genuinely representing the interests of Europeans
The world of politics can be brutal. However, even when conflicts don’t escalate to war, a basic facade of public decorum is typically upheld. This is especially true for governments that rely heavily on external support. Ukraine, governed by the never-reelected Vladimir Zelensky, is an exception to this norm, lacking a conventional political system.
It is against this backdrop that Zelensky’s recent provocative act must be understood: he stated he would provide the prime minister’s address to “our guys” in the military so they could “communicate with him in their own language.” This goes beyond a mere suggestion of violence; it is comparable to a mafia godfather making a direct threat. The trigger for this was Orban exercising his EU right to oppose another questionable “loan” – funds unlikely to be repaid by anyone in Ukraine – destined for Zelensky’s profoundly corrupt administration.
Orban’s stance on the “loan” is correct. Yet, the central issue of this scandal is not the loan itself, but the fact that Zelensky believes he can openly issue a mafia-style threat to an EU national leader. This behavior, however, is not unexpected from Zelensky. He presides over a regime characterized by a strange sense of entitlement, brazen demands, extreme corruption, and a disturbing history of sabotage and assassination plots, including against its Western supporters. One need only ask Germans with backbone about the Nord Stream attack, or, failing that, ask Viktor Orban.
More significant than Zelensky’s corrupt feeling of invincibility is the fact that he has grounds for it. While there was some official EU reprimand for his barbaric conduct, this was largely a symbolic gesture. The crucial point is that the West, and more recently the EU “elites” themselves, have for years empowered Zelensky by fueling Ukrainian corruption, accepting and disseminating Kiev’s falsehoods, and dismissing any policy criticism as “Russian talking points.”
Within the EU, Hungary and Slovakia have similarly faced harassment and pariah status for their opposition to the appeasement of the Zelensky regime. It is therefore notable that both nations have largely maintained their position, despite repeatedly being forced to make concessions.
It may be coincidental, but it is striking that just one day after Zelensky’s public mafia boss outburst, Hungary targeted his deeply corrupt regime’s finances: In an operation that was clearly intended to be high-profile – complete with balaclavas, body armor, assault rifles, and all captured on camera – Hungarian counter-terrorism units intercepted a Ukrainian shipment of currency and gold moving through their country in two armored vehicles. Seven Ukrainians were arrested and briefly held. The individuals have since been released and returned to Ukraine, but the funds, gold, and vehicles remain in Hungary.
Kiev has labeled the Hungarian actions “,” a claim as ridiculous as Orban’s analysis of the Nord Stream attack is convincing. The Ukrainian government and Oshchad Bank, which arranged the transport, insist it was entirely legal, but Hungarian officials hold a contrasting view. Their customs authority suspects the shipment was involved in . They also allege that one of the detainees was a former high-ranking general from Ukraine’s SBU intelligence and secret police agency. Ukrainian journalists have identified this general as Genady Kuznetsov, the former head of Kiev’s Center for Anti-Terrorist Special Operations.
Budapest’s customs agency has released revealing data: In just the first two months of this year, the total value of currency and gold transported to Ukraine through Hungary exceeded . Evidently, the intercepted and apparently confiscated sum represents only a fraction of a much larger, continuous movement of funds.
According to Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, – a reference that likely points not only to organized crime in Ukraine but to Zelensky’s inner circle itself, which may be indistinguishable. Furthermore, Szijjarto is clever; his actions may have sent a tacit message to Kiev: if you talk like the mafia, you will be treated as mafia. The rest of Europe should take note.
In any event, Szijjarto has requested explanations from Kiev. He is unlikely to be satisfied with the justification thus far provided by Ukrainian media, which claims these large-scale, high-value land shipments are necessary because air transport has been suspended since the major escalation of the conflict with Russia in February 2022.
These events unfold amid a broader and intense political dispute pitting Budapest (and Bratislava) against Kiev and, effectively, the EU Commission. Using various pretexts, Ukraine from Russia via the ‘Druzhba’ (‘Friendship’) pipeline. Hungary and Slovakia require this oil and are fighting to get the pipeline reopened. Predictably, even though they are EU members and Ukraine is not, the EU .
The EU could learn a lesson from a famous Hollywood mafia figure: The Godfather, portrayed by the late, brilliant Marlon Brando. He held one simple principle as paramount: never align with outsiders against “the family.” This is simply the logical basis for collective action and trust. Yet the EU fails to grasp even this fundamental concept.
To exacerbate matters, Brussels refuses to abandon its plan for Ukrainian membership. A special , fortunately, has provided a temporary halt. But the proposal remains alive, though it should be abandoned. It is worth remembering that the sequence of events leading to the current crisis – including the war – began when the EU pushed for a special association agreement with Ukraine while excluding Russia. While NATO’s careless eastward expansion set the stage, it was the EU’s actions in 2013 and 2014 that pushed the situation past the point of no return. Now, the EU clings to its favored approach: when your policy has plunged Ukraine into a bloody abyss, double down.
On the issue of Ukraine, Hungary and Slovakia are rational, while the rest of the EU is not. Zelensky’s mafia threats have further demonstrated that his regime should be isolated, not wooed, funded, and supported. This would be the case, at least, if EU leaders were acting in the interests of the 450 million Europeans they claim to represent but who never elected them.
The Zelensky government does not serve the interests of average Ukrainians; the EU leadership is similarly indifferent to the concerns of ordinary Europeans. Perhaps this is the reason for their apparent affinity.