Kyiv Reply, Hungary Blocks Access To 12 Ukrainian News Sites

UNSPLASH/I ILLUSTRATION Do Nothing But Love

JAKARTA - Hungary will block access to 12 Ukrainian news sites after a similar move was taken by Kyiv, which exacerbated relations between the two neighboring countries strained by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Earlier this month, Ukraine blocked various websites deemed to contain pro-Russian views at the request of security agencies. The sites include eight Hungarian-language portals, including popular pro-government news sites, origo.hu.

"A sovereign country must provide a proportional response to a completely groundless attack," Hungarian Chief of Staff Viktor Orban, Gergely Gulyas, said in a Facebook post on Monday, September 29.

Most of the websites targeted by Hungary are widely read in Ukraine. One of them, European Pravda, closely monitors Ukraine's aspirations to join the European Union and Hungary's efforts to block it.

Gulyas said Ukraine banned the Hungarian portals because they wrote critically about sanctions against Russia and military support for Ukraine, as well as criticized the European Union and the NATO alliance for being fragmented and ineffective.

"If EU fragmentation is the basis for state censorship in Ukraine, then it is time for Ukraine to cancel its intention to join," he wrote.

Gulyas said Hungarian sites were also banned in Ukraine because they were "dare to report activity under the influence of the Soros Foundation." Hungarian-born financier George Soros and his liberal views have been the eternal target of Orban's Fidesz party over the past decade.

Orban is skeptical of Western military aid to Ukraine and has maintained better ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin than NATO member countries and other European Unions.

There was no immediate response from Ukraine to Hungary's move to block the websites.