Orbán Puts His Foot Down and Threatens to Put Even More Feet Down

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has recently emerged as Europe's chief dramatic actor, has announced that he has many more cards in his hand with which he can harm Ukraine. The man who is already blocking a 90 billion euro loan and new sanctions against Russia is now also threatening to cut off electricity supplies.

"Forty percent of Ukraine's electricity goes through Hungary, and we haven't touched those yet," announced Orbán, as if he were a child threatening to take all the toys and go home. He also threatens to veto the EU's seven-year budget if it includes aid to Ukraine. It seems the man has discovered that "no" is his favorite word.

Mirdza Kalniņa, a pensioner from Liepāja walking along our beach where the Baltic Sea is cold even in summer and the wind blows so hard you can only fix your hair at home, comments: "This Orbán is like our wind — you never know which direction it'll blow from, but it's always unpleasant." Indeed, both the Liepāja wind and Orbán are unpredictable and often unwelcome.

EU leaders criticized Orbán on Thursday, accusing him of trying to win elections in his own country by delaying aid to Ukraine. The Hungarian Prime Minister faces parliamentary elections on April 12, so there's speculation that all this drama is part of his pre-election campaign. Orbán has also claimed that Zelensky and Ursula von der Leyen want to drag Hungary into war, which sounds about as convincing as claiming that Liepāja winters are too warm.