The government of Hungary rejected news reports Tuesday that its prime minister denigrated Ukraine in conversations with President Trump, injecting the central European nation into the impeachment drama.
Hungarian government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said Prime Minister Viktor Oban did not “sour” Mr. Trump on Ukraine, calling the allegations “preposterous.”
“This is how the fake news factory works,” Mr. Kovacs said.
Various news reports on Monday asserted that Mr. Orban and Russian President Vladimir Putin bad-mouthed Ukraine in conversations with Mr. Trump, at a time when the president was seeking Ukraine’s help investigating alleged corruption by Democratic presidential candidate Joseph R. Biden.
While Mr. Kovacs said the previous Ukraine administration of Petro Poroshenko pursued “anti-Hungarian policies,” new President Volodymyr Zelensky “has given us reason to be hopeful that the new leadership will take a different approach.”
“The stability and security of Ukraine, our eastern neighbor, remains important to us, and, yes, the safety and security of the 150,000 ethnic Hungarians living in the Transcarpathia region of Ukraine is a major concern for us,” he said.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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