Ukrainian FM Sybiha: 'Orbán May Be Gone but His Policies Continue' After Hungary Snubs C8 Format, Oil Storage Request

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on September 22 he was surprised by what he called PM Péter Magyar's 'unnecessarily confrontational' recent statements on Hungary-Ukraine relations. Sybiha noted Hungary had declined to join Ukraine's new 'Carpathian Eight' regional cooperation format — grouping Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, Czechia, Austria, Romania and Serbia on security, energy, logistics and cross-border projects — without explaining why, and criticized Magyar's refusal to allow oil storage facilities for Ukrainian needs on Hungarian territory as contradicting an existing bilateral energy-cooperation memorandum. 'While Viktor Orbán is gone, his policies of obstructionism and isolationism continue to thrive,' Sybiha said, while affirming Ukraine remained open to 'mutually beneficial, pragmatic and respectful' cooperation with Hungary.