Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is no shrinking violet — but even by his pugilistic standards, the last few weeks have seen an uptick in public scrapping.
First, he clashed with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson over crime in the Nordic nation, claiming Sweden was “collapsing” as a result. Then his government focused on Croatia after Hungary’s Balkan neighbor offered to help Budapest move away from Russian oil and gas exports, with Orbán’s foreign minister branding Zagreb a “war profiteer.”
He’s also laced up his gloves to tangle with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk over Ukraine — a grudge match for the two bitter foes.
To give you the diplomatic blow-by-blow, POLITICO scored Orbán’s recent bouts with other European leaders. Who won?
Orbán vs. Kristersson
Orbán threw the first punch when, seemingly out of nowhere, he blasted Stockholm over law-and-order problems in the country.
“A country once known for order and safety is now collapsing: over 280 underage girls arrested for murder, families living in fear. It’s heartbreaking. The Swedish people deserve better!” the Hungarian leader wrote on X last month.
Sweden is grappling with a crime wave involving kids being recruited by gangs through social media and is seeking to lower the age of criminal responsibility.
But Swedish PM Kristersson hit back hard, calling Orbán’s criticism “outrageous lies” in a post on X and branding the leader “desperate” ahead of the Hungarian election next April, in which polls show Orban’s Fidesz party trailing.
“Not surprising coming from the man who is dismantling the rule of law in his own country,” Kristersson added.
POLITICO scorecard: Kristersson 10, Orbán 9.
Kristersson won this one, dodging Orbán’s below-the-belt jab about law and order and countering with a haymaker about the Hungarian leader’s political troubles at home.
Orbán vs. Plenković
Budapest is refusing to wean itself off Russian oil and gas despite the Kremlin’s ongoing war in Ukraine. When Croatia tried to position its own energy pipeline as an alternative, Orbán’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó called Zagreb a “war profiteer” in a post on X.
“No matter how much the Croatian government denies it, they are trying to profit from the war in Ukraine,” he added in another post, while Orbán himself called Croatia’s energy-exporting capacity “minor” at a European leaders’ summit on Wednesday.
Szijjártó’s sledge drew a furious response from Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, who expressed his “indignation” and called Budapest “exceptionally rude.”
“A war profiteer is someone receiving cheap Russian gas and oil — and that is not Croatia,” Plenković said. Hungary, though, “fits that description.” He added that Croatia’s JANAF pipeline has been tested and can meet Hungarian demand.
The two leaders met face-to-face on the sidelines of Thursday’s European Political Community summit, after which Orbán declared Croatia a “historic strategic partner,” in an apparent attempt to bury the hatchet.
POLITICO scorecard: Plenković 10, Orbán 9.
Orbán tried to put Croatia in a corner, but Plenković’s smackdown, including using Orbán’s own invective against him, had the Hungarian leader tapping out.
Orbán vs. Tusk
After Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk gave a speech in Warsaw describing the war in Ukraine as “our war” and warning of the generational consequences if Russia is victorious, Orbán — the most Kremlin-friendly leader in the EU — couldn’t resist going on the attack, accusing Tusk of “playing a dangerous game.”
“Dear Donald Tusk, you may think that you are at war with Russia, but Hungary is not. Neither is the European Union … This is very bad!” he wrote on social media, seemingly channeling his friend, U.S. President Donald Trump.
Tusk responded with a reminder that it is “Russia who started the war against Ukraine. It is them who decided we’re living in the time of war,” and questioning “whose side are you on.”
To which Orbán replied that the only side he’s on is Hungary’s. “You seek to win a war you believe is yours. I want to ensure that peace prevails,” he said Thursday.
POLITICO scorecard: Draw
Neither leader really scored a knockout blow, with both retreating to their corners before the bell, leaving the POLITICO judges unable to call it either way.
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