Budapest, Hungary: Hungary always has and always will defend itself against foreign attacks, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday after one of his closest aides provoked controversy by suggesting that Hungary wouldn’t have fought against a Russian invasion as Ukraine has done.

Speaking to state radio, Orban sought to downplay the remarks by his political director, Balázs Orban, which stirred outrage among many in Hungary and led to calls for his resignation.

Speaking on a podcast on Wednesday, Balazs Orban, who is not related to the prime minister, said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had made an “irresponsible” decision by opting to militarily defend his country after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Hungary, he said, has learned that “precious Hungarian lives” must be treated with caution rather than “offering them up” for defence.

Prime Minister Orban called the comment “an ambiguous statement, which in this context is a mistake.”

He emphasised that Hungary has “always defended itself, it will defend itself today and will continue to defend itself in the future by all possible means.”

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Hungary, a NATO member, has taken an adversarial position toward its neighbour, and sought to block, delay or water down European Union efforts to provide financial and military support to Kyiv and to pass sanctions on Moscow over its war.

Such efforts have led to accusations from many European leaders that Hungary is acting to divide the EU and advance Russian interests.

Balazs Orban’s statements angered many in Hungary who saw them as a suggestion that Hungarian fighters in an anti-Soviet uprising in 1956 had made a mistake by resisting Soviet occupation.