While Hungary holds the EU's rotating presidency, Orban's visit to Russia for talks has drawn sharp criticism from senior officials in the bloc, despite the prime minister insisting earlier in the day that he does not represent the bloc.
"Hungary is a sovereign state ," Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told Russian reporters on Friday when asked about Brussels' criticism of the Hungarian delegation's visit to Moscow.
"Don't confuse pro-war politicians with people in Europe ," he said.
The truth that is not revealed behind the hidden doors is that Orbán is interested in the "Transcarpathian tenderloin", especially now that given the slow but steady advance of the Russians, the " Falling oak, every man is wooded " applies to Ukraine.
Transcarpathia (Transcarpathia) is a historical region on the border between Central and Eastern Europe, located mainly in the Zakarpattia (or Zakarpatska) region of western Ukraine, with smaller parts in eastern Slovakia (mainly in the Prešov region and Košice region) and in Lemko region in Poland.
From the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin (late 9th century) until the end of World War I, most of this area was part of the Kingdom of Hungary. In the interwar period, it was part of the First and Second Czechoslovak Republics.
Before World War II, the region was annexed by the Kingdom of Hungary once more when Germany dissolved the Second Czechoslovak Republic. After the war, it was annexed by the Soviet Union and became part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.
As the European Union begins accession negotiations with Ukraine, Hungary's presidency of the EU Council from July 1 to December 31 risks delaying the process, with minority rights a key point of contention.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has long accused the Ukrainian government of violating the rights of Hungarians living in Ukraine's Transcarpathian region to speak their native language in education and public administration.
Orban's government has blocked crucial EU funding for Ukraine and threatened to block the country's efforts to join the bloc, sending diplomatic relations to an alarming low.
In December, several leaders of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine urged Orban not to block Ukraine's EU membership, stressing "significant progress in the implementation of the European Commission's recommendations to safeguard the rights of national minorities" .
On July 2, Orban visited Kiev and raised the above issues. Although the two leaders did not agree on all of the demands, the possibility of Budapest opening a Ukrainian school and continuing to fund Ukrainian-language education in Hungary, particularly for Ukrainian refugee children, was discussed. This would create parity and make changes in the education legislation of Ukraine more realistic.
Orbán also raised the issue of post-war recovery in Ukraine and the role of Hungarian companies in it.
With his visit to Moscow today, under the guise of mediating the war in Ukraine, Orbán already knew that the fate of the Hungarian minority, as well as the entire "fillet" of Transcarpathia, will depend on Putin in the future and that the Russian president will have the last word.
As early as his interview with Tucker Carlson in February, Putin opened the door wide to Orbán, saying, “I went to the town of Berehove [in Transcarpathia] (Beregszász in Hungarian). All the names of the cities and villages were in Russian and a language I didn't understand: Hungarian. In Russian and Hungarian. Not in Ukrainian – in Russian and Hungarian”
Moreover, in a speech last December he stated that border regions of Western Ukraine once annexed by Stalin from Poland, Hungary and Romania would be returned, with Russia playing the role of guarantor. This means that Transcarpathia will go back to Hungary, Galicia back to Poland and Bukovina back to Romania.
BREAKING: Vladimir Putin hints at the return of Western Ukrainian border regions once annexed by Stalin from Poland, Hungary & Romania.
Potentially this means:
Transcarpathia back to Hungary 
Galicia back to Poland 
Bukovina back to Romania 
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