Zelensky Tells Orbán: NATO Expansion Must Endure for Regional Security

Zelensky Reminds Orbán: NATO Expansion Must Endure for Regional Security

At the "Ukraine. Year 2025" forum, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reminded Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán that NATO’s eastward expansion—of which Hungary has been a part since 1999—is non-negotiable. Zelenskyy criticized talks promoting non-expansion, arguing they jeopardize the security of countries like Hungary and Slovakia.

He questioned why Orbán and Slovak leaders would push this issue when they are themselves members of NATO, emphasizing that such rhetoric endangers their own nations. “If we roll everything back, then Hungary, Czechia, Bulgaria, Romania, the Baltics, Poland, and Slovakia would all be off the list,” Zelenskyy warned, sending a strong message to Orbán and his counterparts.

Zelenskyy further stressed that these discussions are not only politically dangerous but also strategically reckless. He underscored that if Ukraine were to fall, it would set a perilous precedent for NATO allies in Eastern Europe.

“I want President Trump to speak directly with me and those at the table, not just skirt around the issue,” Zelenskyy declared, urging responsible dialogue over empty rhetoric.

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